32 Of The World's Soccer Gaming Elite Get Ready For The Ultimate Showdown In Berlin on May 24
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2008--After seven
months of intense competition, FIFA, EA and PlayStation today
congratulate the 32 finalists who have secured their place in the
Grand Final of the fourth annual FIFA Interactive World Cup. On the
virtual soccer pitches of EA SPORTS™ FIFA Soccer 08, players
spanning the globe from Australia to South Africa, Brazil to Korea to
the USA and Italy, dribbled and scored their way through the
tournament's 20 live qualifiers, while over 25,000 players competed in
the online leg via PLAYSTATION®Network. The finalists will compete
to become the FIFA Interactive World Player of the Year at the Sony
Center in Berlin on May 24.
"I am very impressed with the level of the participants. It is
clear that they have been practicing hard, and like any football
event, practice is one of the most important things. The FIFA
Interactive World Cup is establishing itself as a premier gaming
tournament, and the only one under the FIFA banner," explained Chuck
Blazer, FIFA Executive Committee Member, who added "I think it is apt
that there are now 32 competitors which mirrors the number of teams in
the FIFA World Cup. This tournament is a serious one, and like its big
brother tournament, the FIFA World Cup, it is the pride of being
crowned the FIFA World Champion that encourages these great
performances."
Defending champion Andries Smit from the Netherlands will be vying
for the crown for a second year running. Hoping to prevent this from
happening are the other 31 finalists, including Michael Labelle of
Houston, Texas, who won the Los Angeles qualifying competition, and
online tournament winners Didi Agbai of South Carolina and Michael
Ribeiro of New Jersey. They join Chris Bullard from the UK, the only
previous winner to have reached three FIWC Grand Finals in the
tournament's four year history; or Davor Brescakovic from Switzerland,
who showed his true determination by competing in and winning the New
Zealand qualifier having lost in the semi-finals of the Swiss event.
They'll all be keeping an eye on the next generation of virtual soccer
virtuosos, including Ivan Pastyrcak from Slovakia and Sachith Reddy
from India - both only 14. All finalists will be in hot competition to
be crowned FIFA Interactive Player of the year, win an invitation to
the FIFA World Player Gala 2008 and a cash prize of USD $20,000.
"FIFA 08 is a highly competitive game that has all the fast paced
adrenaline pumping action of watching real football and requires a
tactical mind and a love for football. The Grand Final will be played
in a real football ambience and will provide the opportunity to
experience a live tournament with all the thrills spectators and
players feel with a FIFA World Cup title on the line," says Anthony
Baffoe, former Ghanaian international and the first African player in
the German Bundesliga, who will not only be one of the many soccer
guests that evening but also the co-host of the event.
Everybody is welcome to cheer on the finalists at the Grand Final
in Berlin and enjoy the free entertainment set up during this one day
virtual football extravaganza set to kick off at 11am CET. Live
entertainment will include German hip-hop artist Das Bo.
List of Finalists
Bjorn Diedricks - South Africa
Gwan Hyeong Kim - Korea
Sachith Reddy - India
Chan Charm Wah - Hong Kong
Andries Smit - Netherlands
Roland Csaszar - Hungary
Christian Lonhart - Denmark
Pedro Caiado - Portugal
Alex Barets - France
Karol Rogaczewski - Poland
Alfonso Ramos - Spain
Dominik Posch - Austria
Ivan Pastyrcak - Slovakia
Michael Labelle - Texas
Davor Brescakovic - Croatia
Roberto Garrapa - Italy
Ruben Morales Zerecero - Mexico
Tunc Polat - Switzerland
Buey Siong Tay - Australia
Ivan Soberon - Spain
Michael Pommer - Australia
Max Fayers - England
Marko Krivokapic - Germany
Abubakr Ebrahim Akhalwaya - South Africa
Stephen Coorey - Australia
Andre Casagrande Buffo - Brazil
Didi Agbai - South Carolina
Michael Ribeiro - New Jersey
Carl Condliffe - New Zealand
Chris Bullard - England
Danny Taylor - England
Mustafa Agyuez - Germany
For official terms and conditions of the FIFA Interactive World
Cup, visit:
http://www.fifa.com/interactiveworldcup/organisation/documents/
index.html.
Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your
Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one
exists.
About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is
responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of
PLAYSTATION®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and
PLAYSTATION®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops,
publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these
formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the
formats in these territories. Since the launch of PLAYSTATION 3 in
November 2006, over 10.5 million units have been sold globally and
continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one
of the most successful consumer electronic products in history,
PlayStation 2 has sold over 127 million consoles worldwide. Since its
launch at the end of 2004, over 34 million PSPs have been sold
globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment
market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of
network applications and network gaming, over 5 million people have
registered to the PLAYSTATION Network, the free-to-access interactive
environment, and 81 million items downloaded.
More information about PlayStation products can be found at
www.playstation.com or visit the Virtual Press Office at
www.scee.presscentre.com.
PlayStation, PSP and the PlayStation logo are registered
trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. UMD (Universal Media
Disc) is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other
trademarks are property of their respective owners.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City,
California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software
company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and
distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems,
personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic
Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™,
EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted
revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one
million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More
information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be
found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other
countries.
About FIFA
For more than 100 years, the Federation Internationale de Football
Association, founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris and better known as FIFA,
has continued to provide the essential leadership role to the
international football family. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland,
the eighth FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter guides the organisation
today with a commitment to the evolution of FIFA as a modern and
dynamic association. The basis of the world's football family is
formed by FIFA's members. From the founding seven, the family has
today grown to 208 affiliated football associations, also organised
into six confederations spanning the globe.
FIFA's worldwide activities go well beyond its various
competitions, such as the world's biggest single-sport event, the FIFA
World Cup™. In football development projects such as the FIFA GOAL
Programme as well as in corporate social responsibility activities
(including the Football for Hope movement to support through football
social and human development) FIFA makes material, financial and
promotional contributions to develop the game and make the world a
better place. For the Game. For the World. To find out more about FIFA
and its initiatives please check out www.FIFA.com.
CONTACT: Electronic Arts Inc.
Bettina Munn, +41 22 316 1327
bmunn@ea.com
or
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd
Nick Sharples, + 44 207 859 5301(5349)
nick_sharples@scee.net
Nick Caplin, + 44 207 859 5301(5349)
nick_caplin@scee.net
Fax: + 44 207 859 5036
or
FIFA
FIFA Media Department
Delia Fischer, +41-43/222 7272
Fax: +41-43/222 7373
delia.fischer@fifa.org
media@fifa.org
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.