On 16 June, Christian Imsand, president of the Swiss village of Ulrichen (Haut-Valais) presented FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter with a traditional wooden fountain at the Home of FIFA in Zurich. The FIFA President had initially been presented with a miniature model of the fountain, before the full-size version was set up at the Home of FIFA. Weighing some 700kg, the fountain now nestles just to the side of the football pitch, offering an attractive echo of the quaint and still unspoilt hamlets and villages of the Valais region, with their charming granaries, ancient barns and, of course, their own wooden or stone fountains. Joseph 5. Blatter’s family has its roots in Ulrichen, and when he was elected President of FIFA for the first time in 1998, the council bestowed on him the title of “Honorary Burgher of Ulrichen”.

On 30 June 2008, Castrol became the latest major global sponsor of the FIFA World Cup™ by signing up until 2014. The partnership represents the largest sponsorship deal in the global lubricants company’s 100-year history – a further indication of the business community’s faith in South Africa and Brazil as hosts of the next two FIFA World Cups™.
As a FIFA World Cup Sponsor, Castrol has global rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ and the two FIFA Confederations Cups that fall within the 2008-2014 period. “With Castrol, we are delighted to welcome a committed football supporter into our global sponsorship family. The FIFA World Cup™, with more than 26 billion TV viewers, offers the drama and excitement that comes with top national-team football. With its new Performance Index, Castrol enhances the fans’ experience with exclusive data on the players’ speed, efficiency and performance in all matches. The index was developed with renowned football experts such as Arsene Wenger, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Emiiio Butragueno and it underlines Castrol’s passion for the game,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, before adding: “This agreement not only highlights FIFA’s confidence in South Africa and Brazil as the host nations but also shows that the global business community believes in the incredibly positive impact the events will have.”
Castrol’s main sponsorship emphasis lies on the new Castrol Performance Index, with which it showcases the importance of the brand’s core values of passion, technical progress and performance in an innovative and fascinating manner. “I chose to work with Castrol because its football sponsorship goes beyond simply ticket promotions and branding. The development and launch of a new performance index was something that really interested me and I was impressed by the way they used their experience in improving vehicle performance to champion the objective measurement of players and teams,” commented Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Castrol’s headline ambassador.
Castrol now has exclusive global marketing rights in the category ranging from lubricants, transmission fluids and anti-freeze to refined oil and gas products. “Our investment in football has proved to be a tremendous success and it has allowed Castrol to develop new opportunities in a way that has added value to our business partners, excited and rewarded fans and motivated our staff,” said Mike Johnson, Senior Vice-President for Lubricants.
FIFA’s sponsoring programme comprises six FIFA Partners, six to eight FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors and six National Supporters. The six members of the FIFA Partners category are adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates Airline, Hyundai, Sony and Visa, while two slots are left as FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors alongside Anheuser-Busch, Castrol, Continental, McDonald’s, MTN and Satyam. FNB and Telkom have claimed two of the six National Supporter slots and negotiations are currently underway to confirm the remaining four.

30 September-19 October
FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008
11-15 October
Dates reserved for official competition matches
21 October Zurich
Referees Committee meeting
(1st part; List of International Referees 2009)
22 October Zurich
Meetings of the Referees Committee (2nd part) and the Goal Bureau
23 October Zurich
Meetings of the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee (1st part)
24 October Zurich
Executive Committee meeting (2nd part)
28 October-16 November
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup New Zealand 2008
19 November
Date reserved for friendly matches
19 November-7 December
FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008
22. November Johannesburg
Final Draw for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009
25-26 November Johannesburg
Meeting of the Board of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa
11-21 December
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008
18 December Tokyo
Meetings of the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee (1st part)
19 December Tokyo
Executive Committee meeting (2nd part)