Official FIFA World Cup Web Site Launches As Soccer Fans Anticipate December 1 Final Draw

Business Wire, Nov 28, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BUSAN, Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 2001

FIFAworldcup.com, the Official Web Site of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan(TM), in Association with Yahoo!, Offers Fans the Complete

Soccer Site, Including Real-Time Updates, Exclusive Vintage

Video Highlights, Photo Galleries, and Interactive Trivia Games

`The Budweiser Challenge -- The Official FIFA World Cup(TM) Pick and Win Game' Gives Fans Internationally Chance to Win Dream Trip to 2002

FIFA World Cup(TM) Final Match

The virtual doors are now open to FIFAworldcup.com, the official site of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan(TM), Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) announced today -- and international fans will have a chance to win two tickets and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Final match. With global soccer fans anxiously awaiting Saturday's Final Draw from Busan, Korea (Dec. 1, 7 pm local time, 10 am GMT), they can turn to http://www.FIFAworldcup.com for official, graphic-based, real-time updates and local analysis in multiple languages as soccer teams representing 32 nations, including the United States, are placed into eight first-round groups. Today's announcement coincides with a separate news release announcing Budweiser and MasterCard International as the first two global marketing partners of FIFAworldcup.com.

Complementing the live Final Draw results, FIFAworldcup.com is offering a free multi-language prediction game called "The Budweiser Challenge -- The Official FIFA World Cup(TM) Pick and Win Game." The game is broken into two stages -- the first where people can predict the finish of all eight groups and the points each team will earn during the first round of competition, and a second where fans can predict the winners in the Round of 16 leading up to the Final match. Both stages can be played concurrently and kick-off with the Final Draw. The stage one winner receives two game tickets and a trip to the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM) Final match in Japan.

"For the millions of passionate soccer fans worldwide, FIFAworldcup.com is the most complete and compelling site to connect with critical FIFA World Cup(TM) information they will not find anywhere else -- regardless of country, time zone or hemisphere," said Jeff Mallett, president and chief operating officer, Yahoo! Inc. "One of the things that makes this site engaging at launch is the convergence of real-time Final Draw results, extensive coverage and analysis, and fans' ability to instantly interact with the results through a multi-language prediction game. We also welcome first-class global companies and Official FIFA Partners Budweiser and MasterCard International, both of which are extending their commitment to world soccer through global sponsorship of FIFAworldcup.com."

"FIFA is very pleased to announce the launch of FIFAworldcup.com for football fans worldwide," said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. "This Web site brings together the best of the FIFA World Cup(TM) with the Internet expertise of Yahoo! so that fans from every country and every corner of the world can experience the planet's most popular sporting event."

FIFAworldcup.com -- One Global Stage

FIFAworldcup.com is produced, designed, hosted, and marketed by FIFA and Yahoo!. The site gives fans instant and uninterrupted access to extensive FIFA World Cup(TM) information in six languages -- English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. The official site has four main sections -- Tournament, Pure Football, Entertainment, and Destination Asia -- contain breaking news, real-time results, a photo gallery, and archived video highlights from the vaults of FIFA. Yahoo! will be supporting the FIFA-produced content with its full range of services, including Yahoo!(R) Broadcast (rich media), Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Games (Pick and Win Game), and, rolling out in 2002, the Official FIFA E-Shop will operate on the Yahoo! Shopping platform. Leading up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM), FIFAworldcup.com will also integrate other Yahoo! services into the Web site, such as Yahoo! Auctions, Yahoo! Mobile and Yahoo! Messenger.

Tournament

This section serves as the fans' source of extensive tournament information, including: team profile pages, each team's matches and road to qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM), star player profiles, a match schedule, and a printable bracket. FIFA-created coverage is complemented by wire services provided by Associated Press, Jiji Press, Reuters, and YNA. Additional content in the Tournament section will continue to expand as the FIFA World Cup(TM) draws near, including more than 700 player profile pages. To stay in the loop on breaking FIFA World Cup(TM) news, fans can also sign up for the free Official FIFA World Cup(TM) Newsletter, which is sent directly to a person's e-mail account. To register, people can use their current free Yahoo! ID or register for a free FIFA Club ID on FIFAworldcup.com.

Pure Football

Pure Football contains exclusive content soccer fans will not find anywhere else on the Internet. Featuring vintage archived video highlights from the vaults of FIFA, people can view volumes of past FIFA World Cup(TM) footage, including FIFA World Cup(TM)'s greatest matches played by soccer's biggest stars. At launch, for the first time ever, people will have access to the entire 1982 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final match between France and Germany, as well as a profile of famous footballer Michel Platini, containing video, action clips, an exclusive interview, and a photo montage. Through Yahoo! Broadcast's indexing technology, fans can either watch the match and profile in their entirety or choose to view their favorite moments from a chronological index list. Each month, additional content will be rolled out, including the Goal of the Century, additional exclusive star interviews, and classic match video, including the 1970 FIFA World Cup(TM) Semi-Final match between West Germany and Italy.