The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

An 89-country tour to celebrate the world’s most popular sport will make a stop in the Bahamas as the build-up for one of the most coveted prizes in sports continues.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, presented by Coca-Cola, continues in the Bahamas when the trophy will spend Tuesday October 8 in New Providence.

Bahamian World Cup fanatics will be afforded the opportunity to have a personal up-close encounter with the 13.6 pound, 18-carat solid gold trophy.

The trophy’s tour of New Providence includes a busy schedule of four marquee events.

The trophy is scheduled to land at Odyssey Airport at 11:18am on the Coca-Cola plane, followed immediately by an arrival ceremony and press conference.

At 2pm, a courtesy call will be paid on Government House, where as the Head of State, His Excellency Sir Arthur Foulkes will be the only individual allowed to hold the trophy.

Up next, the trophy will be on display at the Atlantis resort in Grand Ballroom C 4pm-6pm and the tour will conclude with a VIP Gala in Atlantis’ Grand Ballroom A at 7pm.

The tour comes to the Caribbean for the first time on October 5 when Jamaica will play hosts.

The trophy tour is billed as “the world’s most inclusive, participatory experiential event ever.”

More than one million people are expected to interact with the trophy at various stops on the global tour which continues until the World Cup kicks off June 12 in S�o Paulo, Brazil.

According to Coca-Cola, “the 92,000-mile tour will reach 89 countries in the run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The route will include the first-ever pan-Latin America tour with events in 39 countries, as well as stops in 50 countries that have never hosted the trophy. In April, the tour will reach an estimated one million Brazilians on its final leg through the host nation’s 27 capital cities.”

The ceremonial trophy tour commenced September 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the shadow of the internationally renowned “Christ the Redeemer” statue.

This is the third time FIFA and Coca-Cola have come together to bring the Trophy Tour to the world.

“We are extremely happy to bring the most iconic symbol in football to the world once again. At this point, when many countries are beginning to secure their spots in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, this tour gives us the opportunity to share our passion for the beautiful game with fans across the globe who are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the trophy up close in their home country. I want to thank our long-term partner Coca-Cola for making this dream come true for many millions of football fans around the globe,” said FIFA president Joseph Blatter in a press statement.

“Coca-Cola shares the passion that fans have for football around the world and through our partnership with FIFA we champion the power of football to bring the world together,” said Joseph Tripodi, Coca-Cola’s executive vice president and chief marketing and commercial officer.

The base of the FIFA World Cup Trophy is engraved with the year and name of each tournament winner since the format was changed in 1974.