KARACHI: The FIFA World Cup Trophy tour ahead of Football World Cup 2022 in Qatar will arrive in Pakistan on June 7, an official of FIFA confirmed.
The trophy tour was kicked off yesterday in Dubai where the Football World Cup winners Iker Casillas and Kaka put the original FIFA trophy tour on display.
“We are now in a position to confirm that the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca Cola is intending to visit Islamabad on June 7,” a FIFA spokesperson told media.
“The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola will stop in 51 countries and territories, bringing Coca-Cola and FIFA one step closer to the goal of visiting each of FIFA’s 211 member associations by 2030.
“After UAE, the tour will make several debut stops across the Middle East, visiting Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait. For the first time ever, the tour will visit all 32 countries that qualified for the FIFA World Cup, inspiring fans across the world through exclusive consumer experiences,” the spokesperson added.
This is the second consecutive time when the FIFA World Cup trophy will be touring Pakistan.
In 2018, World Cup winner from France Christian Karembeu brought the trophy to Pakistan and put it on display for fans in the country, and will visit the country once again.
A source confirmed that a colourful ceremony has been planned for June 7 in Islamabad featuring several athletes from the country to welcome the trophy to the country.
Director Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Pak and Afghanistan at The Coca-Cola Company Aisha Sarwari confirmed that they have planned three events to celebrate the trophy’s stopover in the country including a welcome ceremony at the airport which will be followed by an event for partners and stakeholders and a concert in the evening.
The organisers have confirmed that the trophy will come to Pakistan from Uzbekistan and stay in the country for one day before flying to Saudi Arabia.
It is uncertain if the FIFA appointed normalisation committee in Pakistan will be directly involved in the trophy tour or not as the country is currently suspended from FIFA’s membership.
