FIFA Interactive World Cup Kicks Off

EA teams up with FIFA and Xbox to launch this year's big tournament.

Tickets to the 2006 FIFA World Cup are up for grabs in this year's FIFA Interactive World Cup, thanks to Xbox, EA Sports and the world's governing football body, FIFA.

Ugly soccer players won't stop FIFA 06 flying off shelves

The second FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) is the world's only FIFA-sanctioned global video game tournament, and combines both on and off-line football gaming action using the new FIFA 06 title for Xbox. The final victor will take centre stage to receive the trophy at the prestigious FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich on 19 December.

The 2005 FIWC tournament follows last year's inaugural competition in which thousands of contestants from six continents battled for a place in the final. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a Brazilian contestant was crowned the first-ever FIFA Interactive World Player at last year's FIFA World Player Gala, and he accepted his trophy alongside fellow countryman Ronaldinho, named FIFA World Player 2004.

FIFA big wig, Urs Linsi, explained, "the first FIFA Interactive World Cup was a great success -- we witnessed thousands of gamers from around the world combine a passion for the game with a burning desire to emerge victorious, just like in the real game. This competition is going to continue to grow in popularity and prestige and deliver on FIFA's goal of bringing football to new fans and players beyond our core group of football aficionados."

Kicking off in October, the FIFA Interactive World Cup will travel to eight cities in six continents, concluding with the final taking place in London in December 2005. Regional Tournaments will be held in the following locations:

• London - Olympia 2 - Saturday 15 October
• Sao Paulo - Villa Noah - Saturday 22 October
• Seoul - Sang Am World Cup Stadium - Sunday 30 October
• Johannesburg - Acton Sport Academy - Saturday 12 November
• Los Angeles - The Globe, Universal Studios - Saturday 19 November
• Sydney - Overseas Passenger Terminal - Saturday 26 November
• Germany - Cologne - The Palladium - Sunday 4 December
• Paris - Carrousel de Louvre - Saturday 10 December

Contestants will have three ways to enter the FIFA Interactive World Cup:

• Register on site at one of the Regional Tournament venues
• Earn a place by registering for the FIWC 2005 Xbox Live Tournament - Xbox Live members can register at www.xboxfiwc.com.
• Win a local qualifying tournament, which will lead to the Regional Tournaments and ultimately to the finals in London - information on online and off-line tournaments is available at FIFA.com.

The eight players who have what it takes to win their Regional Tournament will each win a pair of tickets to a 2006 FIFA World Cup match in Germany and will compete in the worldwide finals in London on 18 December. In addition, each finalist will also win an Xbox 360 and their own copy of FIFA 06. Pretty cool.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com