At its meeting in Zurich on 12 March, the Organising Committee for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, chaired by FIFA Vice-President Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), approved the regulations and the football match schedule for the competition, which will take place at either four or five South African venues from 14 to 28 June.
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter highlighted the importance of the competition: “The FIFA Football Confederations Cup is first and foremost a top football event as it pits the champions of all six confederations, the current world champions and the host country South Africa against each other. At the same time, it is an ideal test run for the organisers of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in terms of infrastructure, logistics and services. As in Germany in 2005, we are looking forward to a festival of champions and thrilling matches.”
In order to appropriately reflect the standing of the competition, the committee agreed to award total prize money of USD 17.6 million. The winner will receive USD 3.75 million, while USD 3.25 million will be awarded to the runners-up, USD 2.75 million to the third-placed team and USD 2.25 million to the fourth-placed team. The teams ranked fifth to eighth will each receive USD 1.4 million.
The competition is scheduled to be played at the five venues of Johannesburg (Ellis Park), Rustenburg, Mangaung/ Bloemfontein, Tshwane/Pretoria and Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, although a final decision will be taken on 29 April as to whether or not the Confederations Cup can be staged at the latter stadium. Consequently, the committee approved two match schedules, one with five venues and one with four. Both schedules envisage South Africa playing at three different venues and contesting the opening match after being seeded At in the draw, which will be held in Johannesburg on Saturday, 22 November in conjunction with a team workshop.
On behalf of the local organising committee (LOC), CEO Dr Danny Jordaan gave a comprehensive report on preparations, highlighting the progress being made in terms of football stadium construction, training facilities and other planning and operational matters.
To ensure seamless and efficient cooperation in the build-up to the competition, the committee’s composition is designed to reflect the field of teams that will compete in 2009. At the meeting, representatives of Italy (world football champions) and hosts South Africa were joined by counterparts from Iraq (Asian football champions), Egypt (African football champions), the USA (CONCACAF football champions) and Brazil (South American football champions). EURO 2008 in Switzerland and Austria this June as well as the OFC Nations Cup will determine the two remaining participants and committee members. Should Italy win EURO 2008, the runners-up will participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup.
For the release of players, the committee took into account that further international dates have been added to the international match calendar in June 2009. For this reason, the release period will be shortened from 14 to five days before the start of the competition.

Under the chairmanship of FIFA Vice-President Jack A. Warner, the Organising Committees for the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Football World Cups met in Zurich on 11 March to review the preparations for the U-17 and U-20 events due to take place in Nigeria and Egypt, respectively, in 2009.
“These competitions are two of the highlights of the international calendar for 2009,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, who opened the two meetings. The provisional dates for the U-20 football tournament in Egypt are 10-31 July 2009, while the U-17 competition in Nigeria is scheduled for 24 October to 15 November 2009.
The Egyptian and Nigerian local organising committees (LOCs) gave presentations on the preparations for their respective events, including details of the venues and stadiums, accommodation and transport concepts, ticketing plans and LOC organisational structures. Chairman Warner praised the work of both LOCs and thanked them for their excellent presentations.
Finally, an announcement was made regarding the member associations that have expressed an official interest in hosting the two competitions in 2011. For the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the bidders are the Czech Republic, Colombia, Mozambique, Portugal and Venezuela, while the Czech Republic, Iran and Mexico have bid for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

At a meeting held in Zurich on 17 March 2008 under the chairmanship of FIFA Executive Committee member Dr Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium), the FIFA Medical Committee focused on the health of players and on the importance of education related to football medicine in order to prevent injuries and disease as well as to improve standards of care.
FIFA President Josephs. Blatter, who opened the meeting, updated the members on medical-related matters that had recently been discussed by the football family, including the ratification of the decisions taken by the FIFA Executive Committee on playing football at high altitude and a meeting with WADA President John Fahey at the Home of FIFA in Zurich. The FIFA President also encouraged the committee to continue its good work, in particular in the important task of preserving players’ health, and announced that in order to demonstrate the importance of football medicine to the daily life of players, one day at the FIFA Congress 2009 would be entirely dedicated to this topic, in particular to the prevention and appropriate management of football-related injuries. Professor Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer, announced that the third International Football Medicine Conference would take place in Sun City (South Africa) from 19 to 21 February 2010. He also confirmed that the third consensus meeting on concussion in sport, organised together with the IOC, IIHF and IRB, would be hosted at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on 30 October 2008.