AT THE DRAW Becks, Theron will help out at WC event
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Some familiar faces in and out of soccer will be involved at the World Cup draw Friday.
South Africa’s Academy Award winner Charlize Theron will be the guest presenter assisting FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke at the Cape Town International Convention Centre at noon ET.
They will be joined on stage by a star-studded line-up of sports celebrities, including Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham (England), one of only a few players to score in at least three consecutive World Cups, Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia), two-time Olympic gold medallist, Makhaya Ntini, the first black player in the South African cricket team, John Smit, the captain of rugby world champions South Africa, and Bafana Bafana player Matthew Booth.
South Africa president Jacob Zuma and FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter will welcome the audience at the beginning of the 90-minute show.
Guests will include Issa Hayatou, chairman of the World Cup organizing committee, Nobel Peace Prize winners Frederik W. de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, plus soccer icons Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Eusebio and Roger Milla.
The majority of the 32 coaches of the qualified teams are expected to be present. Former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, one of the architects of the first African World Cup, will address the audience via video.
The draw will be shown to an estimated audience of more than 200 million people in more than 200 territories and countries. It has attracted unprecedented worldwide interest and an onsite presence of 2,000 invited guests and more than 1,700 media representatives.
