The drama, entitled The Bid, is a jointly commissioned project between Radio Four and the BBC World Service and may reignite the controversy sparked at the time of the failed attempt when representatives for England accused FIFA of voting corruption. Some of those directly involved in the England bid have been consulted throughout the writing process, but have already expressed disapproval of the draft version, with one insider dismissing the quality and accuracy of the script.

Matthew Solon, whose previous track record includes the award winning BBC play about the Lehman Brothers financial collapse, is writing the drama and remains in consultation with members of the England 2018 party in regard to the issues of factual accuracy. However, the BBC has maintained that it will make the final decision abut what material ends up on screen, with a spokesman for the corporation stating:

”Any final edit will be under the control of the BBC.”

The drama may also lead to further tensions between the BBC and the present government, as they are unlikely to be keen on David Cameron’s role in the embarrassing farce of the failed bid and corruption scandal being revived in the minds of the public.

The World Ticket Shop has tickets for a tremendous selection of European sports. In fact you will find there tickets for just about every important European sporting event. The World Ticket Shop has been operating since 2006 and has a very large network of ticket brokers and agents. Effectively it operates as a middleman and puts ticket buyers in contact with ticket sellers. A particular attraction of this site is the guarantee that it offers should things go wrong; for instance an event is cancelled. Should this occur, then the ticket buyer will get back 120% of the original purchase price. The company is based in the Netherlands.

The ultimate ticket bureau located in Spain is the Spain Ticket Bureau. If you are interested in Spanish football this is the best place to find tickets to see the top Spanish La Liga teams. There is a huge availability of tickets and their prices are also very attractive; many of them are the lowest prices that you will find anywhere on the web. It is not only football; there is a host of tickets for all sporting events on offer. These include Formula One motorsport, tennis, rugby, and cricket and more.

Thomas Cook Sport is a little different from the above as it specialises in sports travel and accommodation packages rather than just tickets for sporting events, though if you just want the tickets and accommodation, they are available too. If you failed to get any tickets then you will find that many are available here, including packages for many of the finals; naturally you should expect to pay premium prices.

Soccer City is a football-specific stadium located in Soweto area of Johannesburg. It is actually located next to the South African Football Association or SAFA House, and it is also very close to another stadium, the Coca-Cola Park. Soccer City has a capacity of 91,141, and noted to be the largest in Africa.

The Soccer City will hold the opening match South Africa vs. Mexico. It will also host four more first-round matches, one second-round match, one quarter-final, and of course the grand finale. If you notice the unique exterior design of this stadium, it actually resembles a calabash, an African pot. At night, you will see how the shield on the outside is forming a mosaic of fire and earthen colors. A ring of lights are running around the bottom of the structure to simulating fire underneath the pot.

Large teams such as Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, and Germany are scheduled to play at the Soccer City during the World Cup playoff matches. The fact that Soccer City will also host the final match and the World Cup opening as well as closing ceremonies are simply not unexpected, especially because the stadium has all the needed capabilities to host world events.

FIFA claimed that there is an increase in the total prize money of this year’s World Cup when compared to the 2006 event. The event allocated a whopping $420 million of cash to the event, a generous 60% increase over last event’s budget. Each competing team received $1 million preparation money before the qualifying rounds began. The 32 teams that continued to the playoff were awarded $8 million each for further preparation.

The prize money is distributed gradually on each round. Every team that passes the playoff round and advances to Round of 16 will receive $9 million. The cash prize is doubled if the team progresses to the quarter-finals.

As you expected, the prize money continue to grow as each team progresses through the competition even further. Semi finalists will receive $20 million each; the cash prize allocated is noted to be the biggest so far. Runner-up would get $24 million, while the 2010 World Cup winner would receive $30 million.

This year, domestic teams will also be compensated if their players are joining the national team to compete at the World Cup. FIFA would be distributing €26 million to domestic clubs in compensation money for players.

The Italian squad is pretty strong naturally. Gianluigi Buffon is showing superb performances throughout the qualification rounds, with opponents scoring 7 goals only against Buffon’s goalkeeping. The defense line is nothing to be taken lightly, especially since players such as Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta defending their fields.

The attacking squadron is very sharp, with 22 years old Giuseppe Rossi teaming up with experienced veteran Antonio Di Natale. Marcello Lippi took Italy to 2006 World Cup Champion title, and he will surely have a lot of surprises up his sleeves for this year’s competition. Let’s not forget that Italy also has working midfielders that can ruin opponents’ defense line effectively.

Other teams such as England and Brazil are not in the same group as Italy, but the encounters between these strong teams are unavoidable. In Group F, Italy is up against Slovakia, Paraguay, and New Zealand. The team’s first match in the 2010 World Cup playoff would be against Paraguay; be sure you watch the team’s opening match at Cape Town Stadium on June 14th, 2010. Although Italy is not favored by bookmakers, the team has a lot of potentials and will cause problems for its opponents.

The 2010 World Cup qualification process was started in August 2007. After two years and a lot of matches among 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams, with 32 teams currently listed as contender for the championship trophy. The qualification process is not without controversy, but 32 strongest teams are chosen in the end.

The road to July 11th will be continued on June 11th, 2010. The first match would be between South Africa and Mexico; the match will be held at Soccer City, Johannesburg. The Round of 16 will then be started after 16 group winners and runner-ups are selected, with a match between winner of Group A and runner-up of Group B opening this stage of the competition on June 26th, 2010.

The competition will surely get more intense as 2010 World Cup progresses to quarter-finals and semi-finals on July 2nd and July 6th respectively. We will find out which two teams are competing for the World Cup after the semi-finals end on July 7th. The fight for third place will be held on July 10th, before we continue to the match we’ve all been waiting for and see who rules Johannesburg and be this year’s World Cup winner.