BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE FIFA World CupTtrophy will grace the shores of St. Kitts and Nevis next week as part of a Cocoa Cola global tour promotion ahead of next year’s Football World Cup to be staged in Brazil.
The 14-pound 18 carat solid gold trophy will arrive in the Federation on Saturday (Oct. 19) and will see a number of activities during its presence.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Kevin Edwards, Marketing Manager of St. Kitts Bottling Company, the local distributors for Cocoa Cola, gave a brief overview of the Coca Cola FIFA World Cup Tour.
“Coca Cola, along with FIFA, is the only company that has access to the trophy, and what they are doing here is similar to what they do with the Olympic Torch Run.
“It is called the Coca Cola FIFA World Cup Tour, where they take the trophy to various locations ahead of the World Cup Tournament that will be held in Brazil in 2014.
“They have done previous tours in 2006 and 2010. They will be visiting 89 countries and 50 of them will be seeing the trophy for the very first time. St. Kitts and Nevis will be one of those territories that will be visited during the tour.”
He then disclosed the activities which will be held in the presence of the trophy, which include a football festival and gala evening.
“The trophy is going to be arriving in St. Kitts on October 19. It should be getting into the Federation about 9:30 a.m. We have a day of activities planned, starting off with an airport arriving ceremony where specially invited guest will be allowed to board the specially chartered aircraft the trophy is going to be arriving on. This will be followed by a press conference.
“From there the trophy will go to the Silver Jubilee Stadium for an event that is being hosted by the local Football Association. They are putting on a football festival which is going to encompass activities for the various grassroots programmes they have. They will also have the opening of the 2013/2014 League as well as a match between Conaree and St. Pauls.”
He also disclosed that photos would be given to specially invited guest as well as the first 100 individuals with tickets.
“There will be photo opportunities for the children taking part in the festival, specially invited guest and members of the general public to have theirs taken with the trophy. We will have a special gala event later that evening at the Marriott.”
The trophy will depart the Federation on Monday (Oct. 21).
The World Cup is a gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup Association Football Tournament.
Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have represented victory: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970 and the FIFA World Cup Trophy from 1974 to present day.
The trophy, originally named Victory, but later renamed in honour of former FIFA President Jules Rimet, was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli and depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and was never recovered.
The subsequent trophy, called FIFA World Cup Trophy, was introduced in 1974. Made of 18 carat gold with a malachite base, it depicts two human figures holding up the earth. The current holder of the trophy is Spain, winner of the 2010 World Cup.
