Before the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ kicks off on Friday, there was plenty of other business on the FIFA agenda, as between Sunday and Thursday, several important events were held in Johannesburg.
Yesterday, the opening ceremony of the FIFA Congress began at 5.00pm, with the Congress itself underway from 9.30am on Thursday. When the Congress finished, the bid candidates for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups presented their projects at an exhibition.
The Congress concluded with a press conference which can be relived here shortly.
This evening, the FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert will take place at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, and once again FIFA.com will be on hand to bring you details of the event.
After that, it will be time for the main course itself on Friday: the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Opening Ceremony at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, closely followed by the first match between the hosts and Mexico.
Previously, Sunday had seen the FIFA Executive Committee met for the first of two days of meetings. The main item was a final update on preparations for South Africa 2010, with the members discussing this year's two major youth tournaments: the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany and the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago.
Plenty more ground was covered too, with discussions on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, the Olympic Football Tournaments and a report on the special meeting of the IFAB held on 18 May. The Executive Committee reconvened at 9.30am on Monday, after which FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter held a press conference at 2.30pm, which you can relive here.
Tuesday was slightly calmer, though a meeting of confederation presidents took place during the daytime.
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