Exactly one month after the opening of the Volunteer application process for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, over 20,000 people have already applied to be volunteers at the tournament. The process opened on July 1, 2008 and as at 11am Friday, South African authorities said 20,040 people had registered to be volunteers at the first major FIFA event in South Africa. After the first four weeks, Joburgers are leading the pack with 8,890 volunteer applications, followed by Rustenburg with 4,629 applications, Tshwane/Pretoria with 3,238 applications and Mangaung/Bloemfontein with 2,525 applications to work as volunteers at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, and according to 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee Communication Department, the trend shows heightened public excitement and interest in the cities that will host the tournament. “We are delighted with the overwhelming response to our call for volunteers for the FIFA Confederations Cup. It really shows that South Africans are very supportive and willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved to ensure the success of the Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We at the Organising Committee are extremely encouraged by that and we want to sincerely thank all those who have taken the time to apply to volunteer their services so far,” said Dr Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa. The 16-match tournament - billed as the ‘festival of the champions’ as it pits the champions of the six FIFA Confederations, reigning world champions and next FIFA World Cup hosts against each other - will take place from 14 June to 28 June 2009. The FIFA Confederations Cup will be played at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park, Tshwane/Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld, Mangaung/Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium and Rustenburg’s Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace. Thusfar, South American champions Brazil, European champions Spain, African champions Egypt, 2006 FIFA World Cup champions Italy, 2010 hosts South Africa, Asian champions Iraq and CONCACAF champions the United States have qualified for the exciting tournament which will serve as a foretaste of what’s to come in 2010. The Oceania champions will complete a line-up that is sure to whet the appetite of football fans one year ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee Communication Department says a total of 4,030 volunteers will be required to assist in operational areas such as accreditation, administration, information technology, language support, logistics, transport, information services, media and marketing etc during the tournament, however the application process will remain open until the end of August 2008. The OC is appealing to South African residents who speak the languages of the competing teams; Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Arabic, to still apply, as their services will be very valuable during the tournament. Source: 2010 FIFA W.C. O.C