2002 World Championship starts in Seoul. Football agiotage on its peak

Today, World Football Championship starts in Japan and South Korea. This is the first championship in the 3rd millenium and, for the first time, the championship takes place exclusively in Asia, and in two countries at once. At 14:25 (Moscow Time) ORT TV channel starts broadcasting ceremony of the Championship’s opening. It will be carried out in Seoul and started with a dance. After bringing out flags of Japan and South Korea, Sepp Blatter, FIFA president and the championship’s organizer, will make a welcoming speech, RIA ‘Novosti’ reports. Afterwards, Japanese and South-Korean prime-ministers will address to the audience. The ceremony will be completed with calling to peace and colourful dramatized shows “Prayer,” “Intercourse,” and other. According to the organizers, official ceremony will be more great than all the previous. While at 15:20 (Moscow Time), ORT TV channel will broadcast the championship’s match from Seoul, in which acting champions of the world – the French team – and football-players from Senegal participate. In South Korea and Japan unprecedented measures of security were taken. Fighters and military helicopters will be patrol the city, military ships, surface-to-air missiles, and 13-thousand policemen should keep order in the city. Near to all championship sport objects, there are moveable labs to uncover possible bacteriological or chemical arms. According to RTR-Vesti, the agiotage around the championship is on its peak. To buy tickets even for training match, the fans stay in queue. For the whole month of June, Japan and South Korea will be the main football powers of the world. Russian team will carry out its first match June 5, with Tunis team. About 1,000 Russian fans and relatives of the football players will come to support our team. For 8 years, Russian have not participated in the world championships. According to sport experts, almost everything will depend on the first match of the Russian team: if it wins, it will have more chances for play-off.

Sergei Yugov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/05/31/42020.html