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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 265-10
June 9, 2010

MAYOR BLOOMBERG HOSTS RECEPTION TO KICK-OFF THE 2010 WORLD CUP

Proclaims June 11 as World Cup Day and Launches COPA NYC Tournament Draw

Mayor Bloomberg today held a reception to celebrate the kick-off of the 2010 FIFA World Cup which starts this Friday in South Africa.  At the reception, the Mayor presented a proclamation establishing Friday, June 11 as World Cup Day in New York City. New York City is a USA Candidate Host City for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup. New York City is often called the world's second home - an international metropolis where people speak 200 languages and live side by side in mutual respect.  As a city that celebrates its diversity and is home to countless soccer fans, this unique sporting event has a special significance for New York. During tonight's celebration at Gracie Mansion, the New York City's own COPA NYC held its second annual tournament draw.  The Mayor was joined at Gracie Mansion by ESPN Soccernet Press Pass host Tommy Smyth, COPA NYC Co-founders Spencer Dormitzer and Chris Noble, Consul General of the Republic of South Africa Fikile Magubane, Actor and goalie for NYC Italy team Anthony Lapaglia and Alex Zorrilla, student and current PSAL Boys Soccer Player of the Year on the top ranked high school soccer team in New York City, the Martin Luther King High School Knights.

"The upcoming FIFA World Cup will be watched by fans in countries throughout the world, but no city in the world will have fans from more countries watching it than New York City," said Mayor Bloomberg. "New York City's unparalleled diversity is one of the things that will make the next few weeks during the World Cup so much fun and one of the reasons New York and New Jersey would be such a great host region for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, which the U.S. is bidding for That diversity is also the driver of our annual Copa NYC soccer tournament, which will feature 16 teams comprised of New Yorkers from 16 nations competing for two weeks this July. This summer, the world's most popular sport will be front and center in the world's greatest city."

The 19th FIFA World Cup will be held in South Africa from June 11th -July 11th. Since 1930, this tournament has brought together nations from all over the world every four years to celebrate their common passion for soccer. The first ever to be hosted in Africa, this year's World Cup will feature soccer teams from 32 countries over six continents all vying for the glory of becoming soccer champions of the world.  The World Cup Day commemoration comes less than a month after the announcement that New York City/ New Jersey played a significant role in the official bid book submitted to FIFA by the USA Bid Committee in an effort to make the U.S. the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup host country. If the US wins the FIFA World Cup in 2018 of 2022, it would provide New York City/New Jersey the opportunity to host up to six of the 64 matches that would be held in several host cities across the United States. 

The submission of the official bid book last month began a seven-month review process that will include site visits by FIFA Executive Committee members to each bidding nation, and culminate with the selection of the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups on December 2, 2010 in Zurich.  Local support through online petitioning among each city's residents will play a role in that selection process. New Yorkers are encouraged to support our ability to host the games by signing the online petition at www.gousabid.com/city/local/ny-nj.

New York City's own Copa NYC is an annual soccer tournament consisting of 16 "National Teams" assembled from a selection of participating communities from the New York area, representing their diverse cultural heritages. Copa NYC held its team match-up tournament draw at Gracie Mansion.  Each "Nation" will be represented by a team president, coach, and a roster of 25 players who will compete in a World Cup-style tournament. One team will be crowned the Copa NYC champion and earn the coveted Mayor' Cup. This year the preliminaries and quarterfinals weekend will take place at Pier 40, Hudson River Park on July 24th and July 25th, 2010. The Semi-Finals/Finals weekend will take place at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on July 31st and August 1st, 2010.

Regardless of where the games are played soccer fans can find any number of great places to watch the World Cup in New York City.  In a City whose residents speak more than 200 languages, and more than a third of them are foreign-born, there is no better place to view the largest internationally-celebrated sport event in the world. For soccer fans in NYC trying to find some of the best places to view the games during the world cup can log on to the NYC & Company's website found on www.nyc.gov







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Stu Loeser/ Andrew Brent   (212) 788-2958

Kimberly Spell/Carli Smith   (212) 484-1270




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