| Historical Background
The World Cup is the world's most popular single sporting event. The
World Cup originates from the Olympic games of the 20th century. In 1920, at
the Antwerp Olympic Games, 14 nations from South America, Asia, and Africa
participated in football matches. In the 1928 Olympic games which was held
in Amsterdam, 17 nations gathered to participate in football matches.
On May 26, 1920, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association)
announced its plans to organize football competitions; this was the birth of
the World Cup. During the FIFA General Congress of June 1929, FIFA
president, Jules Rimet passed a vote to create the World Cup. He said, "We
will open the World Cup match to all member nations to send their teams to
participate". Consequently, the first World Cup match was held in 1930 in
Uruguay. Unfortunately, it was held during a transition period between World
War I and the world economic crisis of 1929 and not one European country
applied to join in the event.
Nevertheless, Mr. Jules Rimet persuaded four European countries to
participate and a total of 13 countries gathered together to play in the
first World Cup. The matches were held between July 13-July 30, 1930 in
three football stadiums at Uruguay.
The World Cup is held every four years in between the Olympic games. Due
to World War II, there was a 12-year gap between the 1938 World Cup in
France and the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.
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| Origin of the World Cup
trophy |
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There have actually been two World Cup
trophies made during the lifetime of the games.
The original trophy was made by a French sculptor, Abel
LaFleur, in gold. This sculpture was of the Lady of Victory stretching
both arms out to support an eight-angled cup on a marble-like base. This
trophy was called the "Jules Rimet Cup", in honor of the founder of the
World Cup event. During the course of three World Cup events (1930, 1934
and 1938) which were held before the Second World War, the name changed
to simply the 'World Cup'.
This trophy has had an interesting history. During the Second World
War, it was hidden from the Germans under a bed in an Italian home.
After surviving World War II, the "World Cup" was stolen during a public
exposition just before the 1966 England World Cup. Fortunately, the
trophy was later found in a trash container by a dog called "Pickles."
The Brazilian team won the trophy permanently in 1970, and was rewarded
for being the only team ever to have won three World Cups.
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Unfortunately, the trophy was stolen a second time
in 1983 in Brazil and since then has never been recovered. It is assumed
that the thieves melted down the trophy. The Brazil Football Association
now has a duplicate of the trophy.
A second trophy was selected in 1974 by FIFA. There were 53 designs
to choose from. The Italian sculptor, Silvio Gazazniga won the
commission. He designed this trophy in 18 carat gold. The sculptor
explained that "players are supporting the earth from the bottom on a
circle form, which represents the emotional moment of winning the game."
The trophy is 36 cm (14 in.) high, weighs 4,970 g (11 lbs.) and
permanently belongs to FIFA. A replica is presented to the winner. |
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