Seoul
Seoul the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. With surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, Seoul forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area. Seoul is ranked as the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the world and is larger than London and Paris. Strategically situated on the Han River, Seoul's history stretches back over two thousand years, when it was founded in 18 BCE by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea; the city was designated the capital of Korea under the Joseon dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by a mountainous and hilly landscape, with Bukhan Mountain located on the northern edge of the city; as with its long history, the Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. More Seoul has been a major site of modern architectural construction – major modern landmarks include the N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, Trade Tower, COEX, the IFC Seoul.
Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. As the birthplace of K-pop and the Korean Wave, Seoul received over 10 million international visitors in 2014, making it the world's 9th most visited city and 4th largest earner in tourism. Today, Seoul is considered a leading and rising global city, resulting from the South Korean economic boom - referred to as the Miracle on the Han River - which transformed it into the world's 7th largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of US$635.4 billion in 2014 after Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. International visitors reach Seoul via AREX from the Incheon International Airport, notable for having been rated the best airport for nine consecutive years by the Airports Council International. In 2015, it was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis, with the GDP per capita in Seoul being $39,786. Inhabitants of Seoul are faced with a high cost of living, for which the city was ranked 6th globally in 2017.
Seoul is an expensive real estate market, ranked 5th in the world for the price of apartments in the downtown center. With major technology hubs centered in Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area is home to the headquarters of 15 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung, LG, Hyundai. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences. Seoul has hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, more the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit; the city has been known in the past by the names Wiryeseong, Hanseong, Keijō. During Japan's annexation of Korea, "Hanseong" was renamed "Keijō" by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja'漢', which refers to Han people or the Han dynasty and in Japanese is a term for "China", its current name originated from the Korean word meaning "capital city", believed to have descended from an ancient word, which referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.
Ancient Gyeongju was known in documents by the Chinese-style name Geumseong, but it is unclear whether the native Korean-style name Seorabeol had the same meaning as Geumseong. Unlike most place names in Korea, "Seoul" has no corresponding hanja. On January 18, 2005, the Seoul government changed its official Chinese name from the historic Hancheng, still in common use, to Shou'er. Settlement of the Han River area, where present-day Seoul is located, began around 4000 BCE. Seoul is first recorded as the capital of Baekje in the northeastern Seoul area. There are several city walls remaining in the area. Pungnaptoseong, an earthen wall located southeast Seoul, is believed to have been at the main Wiryeseong site; as the Three Kingdoms competed for this strategic region, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo in the 5th century, from Goguryeo to Silla in the 6th century. In the 11th century Goryeo, which succeeded Unified Silla, built a summer palace in Seoul, referred to as the "Southern Capital".
It was only from this period. When Joseon replaced Goryeo, the capital was moved to Seoul, where it remained until the fall of the dynasty; the Gyeongbok Palace, built in the 14th century, served as the royal residence until 1592. The other large palace, constructed in 1405, served as the main royal palace from 1611 to 1872. After Joseon changed her name to the Korean Empire in 1897, Hwangseong designated Seoul; the city was surrounded by a massive circular stone wall to provide its citizens security from wild animals and attacks. The city has grown beyond those walls and although the wall no longer stands, the gates remain near the downtown district of Seoul, including most notably Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun (commonly known as Dong
Captain (association football)
The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team: it is one of the older/or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can influence a game or have good leadership qualities. The team captain is identified by the wearing of an armband; the only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the coin toss prior to kick-off and prior to a penalty shootout. Contrary to what is sometimes said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the captain of a side about the side's general behaviour when necessary. At an award-giving ceremony after a fixture like a cup competition final, the captain leads the team up to collect their medals. Any trophy won by a team will be received by the captain who will be the first one to hoist it; the captain generally leads the teams out of the dressing room at the start of the match.
A captain is tasked with running the dressing room. The captain provides a rallying point for the team: if morale is low, it is the captain who will be looked upon to boost their team's spirits. Captains may join the manager in deciding the starting eleven for a certain game. In youth or recreational football, the captain takes on duties, that would, at a higher level, be delegated to the manager. A club captain is appointed for a season. If he is unavailable or not selected for a particular game, or must leave the pitch the club vice-captain will assume similar duties; the match captain is the first player to lift a trophy should the team win one if he was not the club captain. A good example of this was in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final when match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United as club captain Roy Keane was suspended. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard jointly lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry.
A club may appoint two distinct roles: a club captain to represent the players in a public relations role, correspondent on the pitch. Manchester United has had both of these types of captains. After Neville retired in 2011, regular starter Nemanja Vidić was named as club captain. São Paulo's Rogério Ceni is the player. A vice-captain is a player, expected to captain the side when the club's captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game, the captain is substituted or sent off. Examples include Thomas Müller at Bayern Munich, Marcelo at Real Madrid, César Azpilicueta at Chelsea, Sergio Busquets at Barcelona, Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur, James Milner at Liverpool and Ashley Young at Manchester United; some clubs name a 3rd captain or a 4th captain to take the role of captain when both the captain and vice-captain are unavailable. In the 1986 FIFA World Cup, when Bryan Robson was injured and vice-captain Ray Wilkins received a two-game suspension for a red card, Peter Shilton became England's captain for the rest of the tournament.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three captains. Michael Ballack had captained the national team since 2004, including the successful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, but he did not play in the latter tournament due to a last minute injury. Philipp Lahm was appointed captain in South Africa, but due to an illness that ruled him out of Germany's final fixture, Bastian Schweinsteiger captained the team for that game, the third-place match. Lahm stated in an interview that he would not relinquish the captaincy when Ballack returned, causing some controversy, so team manager Oliver Bierhoff clarified the situation saying "Philipp Lahm is the World Cup captain and Michael Ballack is still the captain". Lahm ended up becoming the permanent captain of Germany until his retirement, as Ballack was never called up to the national team again. Captain
Association football
Association football, more known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport; the game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal. Association football is one of a family of football codes, which emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity; the modern game traces its origins to 1863 when the Laws of the Game were codified in England by The Football Association. Players are not allowed to touch the ball with hands or arms while it is in play, except for the goalkeepers within the penalty area. Other players use their feet to strike or pass the ball, but may use any other part of their body except the hands and the arms; the team that scores most goals by the end of the match wins.
If the score is level at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout depending on the format of the competition. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, which organises World Cups for both men and women every four years; the rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time rugby football. The first written "reference to the inflated ball used in the game" was in the mid-14th century: "Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe"; the Online Etymology Dictionary states that the "rules of the game" were made in 1848, before the "split off in 1863". The term soccer comes from a slang or jocular abbreviation of the word "association", with the suffix "-er" appended to it; the word soccer was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca.
Within the English-speaking world, association football is now called "football" in the United Kingdom and "soccer" in Canada and the United States. People in countries where other codes of football are prevalent may use either term, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now use "football" for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is evidence. Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net, it was remarkably similar to modern football. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established. Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup. Athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda and harpastum were played involving hands and violence.
They all appear to have resembled rugby football and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified "mob football", the antecedent of all modern football codes, these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking. Other games included kemari in chuk-guk in Korea. Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world FIFA has recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe; the modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the varying forms of football played in the public schools of England. The history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century AD; the Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Rugby and Shrewsbury schools.
They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football; some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School devised an influential set of rules; these ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse; the Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand.
Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under
Tunisia national football team
The Tunisia national football team, is the national team representing Tunisia in association football since their maiden match in 1957. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Africa by CAF, it is governed by the Tunisian Football Federation, founded in 1957 after the Tunisian independence in 1956. Tunisia are colloquially known as Les Aigles de Carthage; the team's colours are red and white, the Bald eagle its symbol. Periods of regular Tunisian representation at the highest international level, from 1962 to 1978, from 1994 to 2008 and again from 2014 onwards. Most of Tunisia's home matches are played at the Stade Olympique de Radès in Radès since 2001. Tunisia's national team have participated in three quadrennial major football competitions, it appeared in the end stages of five FIFA World Cups and eighteen Africa Cup of Nations, featured at four Olympic football tournaments. They created history in that 1978 tournament in Argentina by becoming the first African side to win a World Cup match, beating Mexico 3–1.
They held defending champions West Germany to a goalless draw before bowing out. They have since qualified for three tournaments in succession, in 1998, 2002 and 2006 before returning in the last edition held in Russia in 2018. Tunisia has long-standing football rivalries with North African teams: Egypt and Algeria. In fact, the Tunisian team has always met with them, whether through friendly matches or World Cup qualifiers and the African Cup of Nations. Tunisia is one of the most successful African national teams in competitions, having won one African Cup of Nations, as tournament hosts in 2004, they have been runners-up twice in 1965 as hosts and 1996 held in South Africa. Before independence, an unofficial team was formed in 1928, comprising the best Tunisian players from the Tunisian League; the team's first match was against the France national football B team. Their next friendlies, against the same team on 23 March 1930 and 26 March 1933 resulted in heavy defeats: 0-5 and 1-6 respectively.
Tunisia had to wait until 1939 for their first match win: a 4-1 victory over a team of amateur footballers of Paris. The most capped players of this period are: Gustave Ducousso: 22 caps Gaetano Chiarenza: 21 caps Azzopardi: 19 caps Larbi Ben Hassine -Larbi Bardo-: 16 caps Rachid Sehili: 16 caps Mehl: 15 caps Laâroussi Tsouri: 15 caps Ben Moussa: 15 caps Alaya Douik: 14 caps Dara: 11 caps. Tunisia gained independence from France on 20 March 1956; the Tunisian Football Federation was founded on 29 March 1957 and became affiliated to FIFA and the Confederation of African Football in 1960. The independent Tunisia played their first match against Algeria on 1 June 1957, in the midst of the Algerian War, they played their first official match at the 1957 Pan Arab Games. Tunisia qualified for 1960 Summer Olympics, their first international event. However, less than a month on 18 August 1960, Tunisia recorded their biggest-ever win: an 8-1 thumping of Taiwan. In 1962, Tunisia entered the African Cup of Nations qualifiers for the first time: the team qualified for the tournament and went on to finish third.
Three years Tunisia hosted the 1965 African Cup of Nations and reached the final, where they lost 3-2 to Ghana in extra-time. Despite this early success, Tunisia did not enter the Cup of Nations again until 1976, did not qualify for one until 1978. In 1973, the team entered the Palestine Cup of Nations and won in dominant fashion, winning all six of their matches, scoring 19 goals, conceding only three. In 1977, under new coach Abdelmajid Chetali, Tunisia qualified for the 1978 African Cup of Nations and, at the same time, their first-ever World Cup. Tunisia made the semi-finals at the Cup of Nations, beating holders Morocco along the way, but lost to Ghana in the semi-finals. In the third-place match against Nigeria, Tunisia took the lead, but when Nigeria scored a controversial equalizer in the 42nd minute, the Tunisians walked off the pitch in protest and Nigeria were awarded a 2-0 victory by default. At the World Cup in Argentina, Tunisia made an immediate impact by coming from behind to beat Mexico 3-1, becoming the first African team to win a World Cup finals match.
A few days the team held reigning champions West Germany to a 0-0 draw. Despite these impressive results, however, a 0-1 defeat to Poland in their final group match meant they were eliminated in the group stages. Following their first experience of World Cup football, Tunisia experienced a sudden decline. Between 1980 and 1992, the team managed to qualify for only two tournaments - the 1982 African Cup of Nations and the 1988 Summer Olympics - and in both they were knocked out in the first round. In fact, Tunisia qualified for the African Cup hosted by neighbor Libya and achieved negative results: drawed with Cameroon in the first game before being defeated against Libya and Ghana to withdraw by only one point, they qualified for the Olympic Games after surpassing Morocco and Egypt in the qualifiers with coach Taoufik Ben Othman but he was sacked days before the start of the competition and was replaced by Antoni Piechniczek. The results were not good after drawing with China and
African Footballer of the Year
The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football since 1992. An earlier African Footballer of the Year Golden Ball award was given out between 1970 and 1994 by France Football magazine; the changes resulted in parallel Golden Ball awards given out to Abedi Pele and George Weah in 1993 and 1994 by the magazine although the CAF sponsored awards for those years were won by Rashidi Yekini and Emmanuel Amuneke, as well as two awards given to Abedi Pelé in 1992. France Football discontinued the election from 1995 after the European Ballon d'Or – awarded by the magazine – had been opened to all players in the European leagues. On 2 February 2008, Sevilla's Frédéric Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year. Kanouté, born in France, is the first European-born player to win the award; the award by France Football magazine was awarded to the best African footballer between 1970 and 1994.
The award was discontinued in 1995 after the European Footballer of the Year was opened to players of non-European nationality, the award being given to George Weah that year. It had been replaced by an official award given out by the Confederation of African Football since 1992. BBC African Footballer of the Year African Women Footballer of the Year FIFA World Player of the Year CAF Awards
Hamadi Jebali
Hammadi Jebali is a Tunisian engineer, Islamist politician and journalist, Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, a moderate Islamist party in Tunisia, until he left his party in December 2014 in the course of the Tunisian presidential election, 2014. Born in Sousse in 1949,Jebali received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Tunis University and added a masters programme in photovoltaic engineering in Paris, France; as a specialist in solar energy and wind power, he founded his own enterprise in Sousse. In 1981 he became involved with Tunisia's Islamist movement called Movement of the Islamic Tendency, he was director and editor-in-chief of Al-Fajr, the former weekly newspaper of the Islamist Ennahda Party. Moreover he served as longtime member of the party's executive council and remains secretary-general of Ennahda. In June 1990, Al-Fajr published an article by Rashid al-Ghannushi called "The people of the State or the State of the People?"
Jebali was made responsible for the publication and received a suspended sentence and a 1,500 dinars fine for the offences of "encouraging violation of the law" and "calling for insurrection". In November 1990, the Islamist newspaper contained an essay by the lawyer Mohammed Nouri, entitled "When will military courts, serving as special courts, be abolished?" This time, a military court sentenced Hamadi Jebali to one year in prison for "defamation of a judicial institution". In May 1992 the government claimed that it had detected plans for a coup d'état by Ennahda, which had plotted to kill President Ben Ali and establish an Islamic state. In August 1992, along with 170 other sympathisers of Ennahda, was charged with "attempted overthrow". Jebali protested that he had no knowledge of the plot's existence, asserted that he had been tortured, presenting marks on his body for evidence; the trial was classified as unfair by observers for Human Rights Watch, the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights, Amnesty International, the latter of which named Jebali a prisoner of conscience.
On 28 August 1992 Hamadi Jebali was sentenced to a prison term of 16 years for "membership in an illegal organisation" and "attempted change of the nature of the state". The Court of Cassation confirmed the verdict; the conditions of his imprisonment were harsh. More than ten of the 15 years that Jebali spent, were in solitary confinement. Hamadi Jebali engaged in several hunger strikes to protest against the conditions and his conviction. Two of them lasted for 36 days each. In February 2006, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Tunisia's independence, Jebali was conditionally released. Following the Tunisian revolution in January 2011, Ennahda was legalised. Since Hamadi Jebali has been present in public as the party's secretary-general and spokesman. In May 2011, he traveled to Washington, D. C. on the invitation of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. He met U. S. Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman. Ensuing Ennahda's success in the Constituent Assembly election on 23 October 2011, the party nominated him as its candidate for prime minister.
Jebali is considered a proponent of the reformist wing of his party. Interim President Moncef Marzouki appointed Jebali as Prime Minister of Tunisia on 14 December 2011, he presented his government on 20 December. He took office on 24 December. On 19 February 2013, he resigned his office; the move followed his attempt to form a technocratic government following the assassination of Chokri Belaid and ensuing protests against the alleged Islamisation of the country. Ennahda, rejected his resignation insisting on a government of politicians and Jebali formally resigned after a meeting with President Moncef Marzouki saying it was in the best interests of the country, he said: "I promised if my initiative did not succeed I would resign as head of the government, this is what I am doing following my meeting with the president. Today there is a great disappointment among the people and we must regain their trust and this resignation is a first step." Party leader Rachid Ghannouchi suggested a government of politicians and technocrats, while Jebali suggested that if he was tasked with forming a new government it would have to include non-partisan ministers and a variety of political representation that would lead to a new election.
Unnamed opposition figures welcomed the resignation. The same day, Poor downgraded Tunisia's credit rating. However, the IMF said. After urging his party without success to support the interim president Moncef Marzouki in the presidential election of 2014, he left Ennahda on 10 December 2014. In January 2015, he refused to join the new party of the losing presidential candidate Marzouki but did not rule out founding a party of his own
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, for the finals tournament, it was the second time that Germany staged the competition, the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, they defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place. Angola, Ivory Coast and Tobago, Togo made their first appearances in the finals, it was the first appearance of Serbia and Montenegro under that name. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion times viewed, compiled over the course of the tournament.
The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people. The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Switzerland, it involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier: Germany, South Africa and Morocco. Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the fewest votes; the first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000, the final round was held on 7 July 2000, which Germany won over South Africa. Accusations of bribery and corruption had marred the success of Germany's bid from the beginning. On the day of the vote, a hoax bribery affair was made public, leading to calls for a re-vote. On the night before the vote, German satirical magazine Titanic sent letters to FIFA representatives, offering joke gifts like cuckoo clocks and Black Forest ham in exchange for their vote for Germany. Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey, who had backed England, had been instructed to support South Africa following England's elimination.
He abstained. Had Dempsey voted as instructed, the vote would have resulted with a 12–12 tie, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who favoured the South African bid, would have had to cast the deciding vote. More irregularities surfaced soon after, including, in the months leading up to the decision, the sudden interest of German politicians and major businesses in the four Asian countries whose delegates were decisive for the vote. Just a week before the vote, the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia and agreed to send grenade launchers to the country. DaimlerChrysler invested several hundred million Euro in Hyundai, while one of the sons of the company's founders was a member of FIFA's executive committee. Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea, whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi and Chung Jong-Moon were possible votes for Germany. Makudi additionally received a payment by a company of German media mogul Leo Kirch, who paid millions for worthless TV rights for friendly matches of the German team and FC Bayern Munich.
On 16 October 2015, the German news magazine Der Spiegel alleged that a slush fund with money from then-Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus was used to influence the vote of four Asian members of the FIFA executive committee. The sum of 6.7 million Euro was demanded back by Dreyfus. In order to retrieve the money, the Organizing Committee paid an equivalent sum to the FIFA as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony, which never materialized. Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German Football Association, denied the allegations on 17 October 2015, saying that "the World Cup was not bought" and that he could "absolutely and categorically rule out the existence of a slush fund"; the DFB announced. During a press conference on 22 October 2015, Nierbach repeated his stance, emphasizing that the 6,7 million were used in 2002 to secure a subsidy by FIFA. According to Niersbach, the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter, with the money being provided by Dreyfus.
On the same day, FIFA contradicted Niersbach's statement, saying: "By our current state of knowledge, no such payment of 10 million Franks was registered by FIFA in 2002." The following day, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying, saying: "It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application". According to Zwanziger, the 6.7 million Euros went to Mohamed Bin Hammam, who at the time was supporting Blatter's campaign for president against Issa Hayatou. On 22 March 2016 it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid. 198 teams attempted to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Germany, the host nation, was granted automatic qualification, with the remaining 31 finals places divided among the continental confederations. Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams, five by CAF teams, four by CONMEBOL teams, four by AFC teams, three by CONCACAF teams; the remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC.
Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time: Angola, Czech Republic, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tobago, Serbia and Montenegro. Czech
