World Cup Fever Hits Toronto Early

In hockey-mad Canada, spring means the arrival of the NHL playoffs but there was soccer fever in the air this week in Toronto.

 

The World Cup trophy made it’s first ever appearance on Canadian soil in advance of this summer’s World Cup tournament taking place in South Africa. The trophy arrived in Toronto on Wednesday morning as part of the extensive world tour put together by FIFA and Coca-Cola.

 

The trophy’s journey began at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on September 21, 2009 and is scheduled to visit 83 countries. By the end of the tour, the trophy will have travelled a total of 138,902 kilometres, which amounts to more than three times the circumference of Earth.

 

The trophy was in Toronto for 2 days as it made the rounds to various TV stations before being put on display at the CBC building for a ticketed public viewing. Tickets were only available through Coca-Cola’s iCoke website.

 

Since holding the trophy is only reserved for World Cup winners and heads of state it was kept under a clear protective display case amid tight security and under the watchful eyes of its many handlers.

 

Somalia-born, Toronto-raised rapper K’naan has been with the trophy tour every step of the way as his song Waving Flag was selected by Coca-Cola as the official anthem for the 2010 World Cup. He escorted the trophy off a private DC-9 jet emblazoned with the FIFA and Coca-Cola logos. K’naan was able to bring the trophy tour to his current home of Toronto but despite his best efforts, wasn’t able to bring it to Somalia which is plagued by violence and deemed unsafe.

 

Despite being inspirational, K’naan had to rework his original version of Waving Flag which was about his struggles growing up in a war-torn Somalia. The song was remixed and rewritten to be upbeat and celebratory in bringing the globe together for the World Cup.

 

The artist also recorded a third version of the song during the Vancouver Olympics with fellow Canadian musicians. The benefit song was put together to raise money for Haiti which was devastated by an earthquake in January.

 

 

The most revered and sought after sporting prize in the world will take centre stage this June when South Africa hosts the first ever World Cup on the African continent. 32 teams will vie for the honour of hoisting it when the tournament kicks off in Johannesburg on June 11^th when the hosts take on Mexico at Soccer City Stadium.

 

The iconic trophy is made of solid, 18-carat gold and measures in at 36.8 cm high and weighs roughly 6.1 kg. The base of the trophy contains two layers of semi-precious malachite and the bottom of the trophy features the engraved year and name of each FIFA world cup winner since 1974.

 

The winning nation is awarded the trophy and retains it until the next tournament when they are given a gold-plated replica.

 

The trophy has two more stops – Miami and Houston – before heading to its final destination of the tour, South Africa.

Click here to view more photos from this event.

Contact Aman Dhanoa at aman@oyetimes.com

Photos courtesy of Vijay Setlur