Caption: President of Fiji, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau welcomes the FIFA World Cup Trophy with FIFA Ambassador along side the FIFA World Cup Champion Christian Karembeu. Photo: MINFO
By ASHTOSH SINGH
A historic event in the name of Fijian soccer took place yesterday week as the FIFA World Cup Trophy tour by Coca-Cola arrived at Nadi International Airport yesterday afternoon with its three day tour in Fiji.
President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau accepted the FIFA World Cup Trophy and with it welcomed some of the officials associated with the tour.
In his welcome speech the President said,” Football is widely regarded the world over as “the beautiful game” and, in the opinion of many as, the most popular sport in the world with over 250 million players in over 200 countries.”
“Today’s event marks a significant milestone for Fiji in our quest to improve the quality of our football – to make it more competitive, entertaining, and of course, to vastly improve our world ranking,” the President added.
The tour is also accompanied by the FIFA Ambassador and the FIFA World Cup Champion Christian Karembeu who has played alongside Zinadine Zidane for France and also won the 2000 Euro Championship and the 1998 and 2000 Champions League with Real Madrid, is from New Caledonia. The only Pacific Islander to have won the FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Amatil Fiji Limited has announced a Cocktail Party at the Fiji Beach Resort and Spa today while Lautoka will also host a soccer carnival at Churchill Park tommrow.