Abu Dhabi: African club champions TP Mazembe Englebert from Congo and Papua New Guinea's Hekari United were the first teams to arrive for the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2010, which kicks off at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
Hekari United clash with hosts Al Wahda on Wednesday while the Mazembe squad, nicknamed "The Crows" will be hoping to drive home the advantage of being the only team from last year's seven to return for the competitions which crowns the champion club of the world.
Alex Stone, Fifa's Media Relations Manager took local journalists on a short tour of the facilities at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium (Al Jazira Club grounds) and said media interest from around the world has been higher than last year.
"Around 160 members of the international media including photographers will be here. A total of nearly 700 staff, which includes the technical and crew of the media outlets will be here," said Stone. "TV stations from the UAE, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Congo, Korea, Singapore and South Africa have already confirmed and in the next two days we will know how many countries the telecasts will be beamed," the Fifa official added.
Perfect pitch
Mike Lane, Senior Operations Manager of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), said the pitch at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium is in perfect condition.
"The pitch is in a much better condition. It has had time to establish. It has had a pretty rigorous maintenance programme. Last year the pitch was great, this year it is fantastic," Lane said. "This year the fan zone has some new elements to it. Our main focus now [are] the finishing touches. The temporary structures are all up, we just need to commission them."
With the teams beginning to arrive, the action now gets serious.
The Football Village on the Abu Dhabi Corniche has come to a close after 11 days of football-themed events and activities.
Supported by Mubadala, there were over 35 events held including the etisalat "Match in the Sky", freestylers, DJs and bands on the Flash Stage, football movies and live FA Premier League matches shown on the giant outdoor screens.
Fans also enjoyed interactive graffiti and sand sculpting workshops.
Mohammad Al Mahmood, General-Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: "The Football Village has been a resounding success, exceeding all our expectations."
