Gravenbruch, Nov 15: Dutch electronics giant Philips was introduced on Thursday (November 10) as the 10th official sponsor of the 2006 Soccer World Cup finals in Germany. "We now know for sure that the Dutch will be there," 2006 World Cup organising committee president Franz Beckenbauer joked as the deal was announced at a news conference in Gravenbruch, near Frankfurt on Wednesday (November 14). "They were not there in 2002," added the World Cup-winning captain and coach, referring to the Dutch national side's failure to qualify for this year's finals in South Korea and Japan. "We naturally hope that the Dutch team will be here too."
The two companies were represented by Gottfried Dutin, Executive Vice President and member of Philips' Board of Management, and Guido Tognoni, FIFA Director of Competitions, Marketing & TV.


Philips, which has sponsored every World Cup since 1986, will provide stadiums with products such as television sets, DVD devices and audio equipment.


The company is also in talks with some of the 12 World Cup stadiums to be the main supplier of lighting.


The other nine official sponsors for the tournament in Germany are Adidas, Avaya, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Telekom, Gillette, McDonald's, Toshiba and Yahoo.


The official emblem and slogan of the 2006 World Cup will be unveiled at a ceremony on Tuesday in Gelsenkirchen, where Germany will play the Netherlands in a friendly international the next day.

Bureau Report