The main hall of the Football for Hope Festival 2010 Team Village pulsed today with the cheers of over 250 young people as the Football for Hope Festival 2010 was opened in Johannesburg, South Africa.

An astounding 32 delegations from as far away as the United States and Cambodia poured into Johannesburg to participate in this unique event: 2010 marks the first time that the field of Development through Football has been included as an official component of the World Cup.

A warm welcome
Bundled in cozy winter gear, the delegations received an even warmer VIP welcome from the mayor of Johannesburg, Amos Masando; Councillor Bafana Sithole from the Mayoral Committee for Community Development; Irvin Khoza, Chariman of the 2010 World Cup Organising Committee and Greg Fredericks from the Organising Committee.

In the spirit of cooperation that has been at the core of the years of planning and implementation of the Football for Hope Festival, streetfootballworld Managing Director Jürgen Griesbeck and Head of FIFA CSR took to the stage together.

"We now have the opportunity to show the power of football to the world," said Jürgen. "We're on the World Cup stage!" he announced above the drum beats and applause. "You, the youth of today, will be the leaders of tomorrow."

"We, all together, have a great responsibility towards showing the entire world that football is a unique and powerful tool to address the social challenges in your community," said Federico.

The main prize
Jürgen and Federico also had the honour of revealing three very special trophies: the Fair Play Trophy, the Alex Cup--created by a local artisan from the township of Alexandra--and the Football for Hope Festival Trophy. The Festival Trophy was created by the makers of the FIFA World Cup Trophy, G.D.E. Bertoni.

Bringing the World Cup to Alexandra
Festival 2010 was created to celebrate the power of football to effect social change and to honour the young people and the organisation who live the power of football everyday. The township of Alexandra, the sort of disadvantaged area not generally favoured for major international events, was selected as the official site of the festival as part of a steadfast commitment to social change in local communities.

"It's the first time in the long history of the World Cup that a township is an official venue of the World Cup and we have to celebrate that," said Jürgen.

The flavour of South Africa, and of Alexandra in particular, was on display from day one, with local dancers and football freestylers performing for their international audience.

The draw
With a whirlwind schedule packed with cultural and educational activities, the main topic on everyone's mind was nevertheless the tournament draw.  Team Uruguay was selected to play the opening match against the host delegation, Team Alex, on July 4th.

"We are here to make new friends," announced a young Kick4Life player as the delegation from Lesotho was selected for Group C. "I believe that we're going to have a great two weeks with you guys. On behalf of Kick4Life I say thank you!"

Forming new friendships and introducing new cultures was high on the list of priorities: "Australia's a very diverse country and we're looking forward to showing our diversity both on and off the pitch," said one player from the Football United delegation. Team Zambia's representative, speaking after an outburst of drumming from her teammates, was clear on their message: "Let's have fun, make friends and enjoy the game!"

From the stands to the pitch
The welcoming ceremony presented the perfect opportunity to reveal what had long been a closely guarded secret: every player will have a seat at the World Cup quarter finals!

With two weeks of activities and football ahead of them, the young players weren't feeling the cold at all, according to Leslie from the Sport dans la Ville delegation from France: "C'est chaud, ça brûle!"

Ayoba!