Football Fever In Germany

   (Frankfurt Exclusive)—In case you have been situate in a hermetically sealed environment somewhere and missed it, the 2006 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Germany today.
   From Paris to Costa Rica, Trinidad, Tobago and Togo, to Croatia, around Iran, Brazil or Belize, right now, soccer fever jumps over religious, racial and many other differences that otherwise divide nations and people.
   “King Soccer” is ruling the hearts and minds of a large part of the world these days.
   But another big story is the showcase attention that the games bring to Germany.
   For the first time after reunification, the entire world will look at the New Germany, situated at the heart of Europe.
    If Germans love sport, they truly adore football, both as players and fans in the stands.
    So before and after these World Cup matches, soccer will remain a staple of the sports diet here.
    The German Football Association or Deutsche Fußball Bund (DFB), founded in 1900, has more than 6 million members belonging to close to 27,000 clubs, with every fifth member younger than 14.
    Meanwhile, the Bundesliga, the elite professional league, attracts an average of ten million spectators every season.
    No wonder excitement has reached a fever pitch.
    During the past months giant countdown clocks to the matches have been in operation all over Germany as preparation for the 2006 World Cup resulted in newspaper articles and nightly news bulletins of new stadiums being built and other venues being given a 21st century makeover.
    Matches will be held in 12 different stadiums, with the opening ceremony and first match in Munich today (June 9th) and the final match held on July 9th 2006 in Berlin.

Other host cities are: Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hanover, Kaiserslautern, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
   Although the matches are being held in Germany, the event is truly a world series of sport with (32) countries participating and everyone closely following the outcome of each encounter.
   Just before kick-off, one of the leading global management-consulting firms ranked Germany third on its world scoreboard for overall economic locations after the U.S. and China.
   Now – what has that to do with air cargo?
   Plenty!
   Most of the teams are here accompanied by a special and low-key group of 10 to 50 staff to support all their needs behind the scenes.
   The 32 top hotels in Germany selected by the national committees became airfreight customers overnight.
   In German cities from border to border various nations’ aircraft carried the FIFA World Cup logo while in the streets companies including Schenker/BAX and others put on

a “Smiley” as an official logistics provider to FIFA 2006.
   Lufthansa Cargo claims to have become World Football Champion in having carried an astronomic number of balls for the matches.
   Talk about too many balls in the air!

Elsewhere aloft, Emirates has purchased the rights to the broadcast of every game from the 64-match tournament, both on all their aircraft and inside airport terminals and lounges, and also recently signing up to continue as a FIFA Partner from 2007 to 2014 in a $195 million deal.
   “Firsts” are that most of the 12 arenas are weather proof.
   News is that 323 police officers from 13 countries are assisting the 60,000 security staff in the venue cities to locate, identify and control travelling hooligans among the dedicated millions of “straight” fans expected in attendance at the matches.
   News also is that AWACS observation planes are circling and controlling German airspace during the championship.
   In a country known for law & order and regulations for everything, the “Big News” is that restaurants, pubs and bars and even shops are allowed to be open until late and can stay open longer as well.
(Guenter Mosler)