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No surprises as FIFA name top World Cup seeds
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-07 09:16 FIFA created the special pot so they could avoid having any groups with more
than two European teams.
Jim Brown, FIFA's Director of Competitions explained: "The seedings were
based on FIFA rankings for the last three years and the last two World Cup
finals.
"Germany will be seeded in slot A1 in the draw and Brazil in F1, and there
were economic factors involved in this decision as those teams are guaranteed to
play in larger stadiums."
One team from each pot will be drawn into the eight groups in the first stage
of the finals in Germany which run from June 9 to July 9 next summer.
GERMANY OPEN
Germany will open the World Cup in Munich on June 9 and will then play in
Dortmund on June 14 and Berlin on June 20. Brazil will start their campaign for
a sixth title in Berlin on June 13 then play in Munich on June 18 and Dortmund
on June 22.
In a break with the past, FIFA have also ruled that any player selected to
play in the finals will not be allowed to play any other competitive match after
May 15, the deadline for the announcement of the finalists' 23-man squads.
The only exception will be for those players involved in the Champions League
final which will now be held in Paris on May 17 rather than May 24. The UEFA Cup
final in Eindhoven has been brought forward from May 17 to May 10.
FIFA were unhappy with the lethargic peformances of some leading players in
the 2002 finals and have now introduced the cut-off date to give players a
three-week break before the start of the competition.
"The 23 players on the list (for each of the 32 participating nations) will
not be available for any other competition (after this date)," FIFA general
secretary Urs Linsi said on Tuesday.
"We don't want burned out players. They will be free from any other
engagement. The Champions League final is a special exception."
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