Official FIFA World Cup Web Site Launches.

The virtual doors are now open to FIFAworldcup.com, the official site of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) announced — and international fans will have a chance to win two tickets and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Final match. With global soccer fans anxiously awaiting Saturday’s Final Draw from Busan, Korea (Dec. 1, 7 pm local time, 10 am GMT), they can turn to http://www.FIFAworldcup.com for official, graphic-based, real-time updates and local analysis in multiple languages as soccer teams representing 32 nations, including the United States, are placed into eight first-round groups. Today’s announcement coincides with a separate news release announcing Budweiser and MasterCard International as the first two global marketing partners of FIFAworldcup.com.

Complementing the live Final Draw results, FIFAworldcup.com is offering a free multi-language prediction game called “The Budweiser Challenge — The Official FIFA World Cup(TM) Pick and Win Game.” The game is broken into two stages — the first where people can predict the finish of all eight groups and the points each team will earn during the first round of competition, and a second where fans can predict the winners in the Round of 16 leading up to the Final match. Both stages can be played concurrently and kick-off with the Final Draw. The stage one winner receives two game tickets and a trip to the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM) Final match in Japan.

“For the millions of passionate soccer fans worldwide, FIFAworldcup.com is the most complete and compelling site to connect with critical FIFA World Cup(TM) information they will not find anywhere else — regardless of country, time zone or hemisphere,” said Jeff Mallett, president and chief operating officer, Yahoo! Inc. “One of the things that makes this site engaging at launch is the convergence of real-time Final Draw results, extensive coverage and analysis, and fans’ ability to instantly interact with the results through a multi-language prediction game. We also welcome first-class global companies and Official FIFA Partners Budweiser and MasterCard International, both of which are extending their commitment to world soccer through global sponsorship of FIFAworldcup.com.”

“FIFA is very pleased to announce the launch of FIFAworldcup.com for football fans worldwide,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. “This Web site brings together the best of the FIFA World Cup(TM) with the Internet expertise of Yahoo! so that fans from every country and every corner of the world can experience the planet’s most popular sporting event.”

FIFAworldcup.com — One Global Stage

FIFAworldcup.com is produced, designed, hosted, and marketed by FIFA and Yahoo!. The site gives fans instant and uninterrupted access to extensive FIFA World Cup(TM) information in six languages — English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. The official site has four main sections — Tournament, Pure Football, Entertainment, and Destination Asia — contain breaking news, real-time results, a photo gallery, and archived video highlights from the vaults of FIFA. Yahoo! will be supporting the FIFA-produced content with its full range of services, including Yahoo!(R) Broadcast (rich media), Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Games (Pick and Win Game), and, rolling out in 2002, the Official FIFA E-Shop will operate on the Yahoo! Shopping platform. Leading up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM), FIFAworldcup.com will also integrate other Yahoo! services into the Web site, such as Yahoo! Auctions, Yahoo! Mobile and Yahoo! Messenger.

Tournament

This section serves as the fans’ source of extensive tournament information, including: team profile pages, each team’s matches and road to qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM), star player profiles, a match schedule, and a printable bracket. FIFA-created coverage is complemented by wire services provided by Associated Press, Jiji Press, Reuters, and YNA. Additional content in the Tournament section will continue to expand as the FIFA World Cup(TM) draws near, including more than 700 player profile pages. To stay in the loop on breaking FIFA World Cup(TM) news, fans can also sign up for the free Official FIFA World Cup(TM) Newsletter, which is sent directly to a person’s e-mail account. To register, people can use their current free Yahoo! ID or register for a free FIFA Club ID on FIFAworldcup.com.

Pure Football

Pure Football contains exclusive content soccer fans will not find anywhere else on the Internet. Featuring vintage archived video highlights from the vaults of FIFA, people can view volumes of past FIFA World Cup(TM) footage, including FIFA World Cup(TM)’s greatest matches played by soccer’s biggest stars. At launch, for the first time ever, people will have access to the entire 1982 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final match between France and Germany, as well as a profile of famous footballer Michel Platini, containing video, action clips, an exclusive interview, and a photo montage. Through Yahoo! Broadcast’s indexing technology, fans can either watch the match and profile in their entirety or choose to view their favorite moments from a chronological index list. Each month, additional content will be rolled out, including the Goal of the Century, additional exclusive star interviews, and classic match video, including the 1970 FIFA World Cup(TM) Semi-Final match between West Germany and Italy.

Entertainment

Fans will find The Budweiser Challenge — The Official FIFA World Cup(TM) Pick and Win Game in this section. The game provides a variety of ways to play — either through a private or public group. Private groups give players the ability to track their predictions and results against other group members, including co-workers, friends, or family. Public groups provide players the opportunity to enter their picks against other fans who share an affinity for one of the 32 teams represented in the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM), such as “Fans of Japan” or “Fans of France.” Winners are determined by the leaders following each of the two rounds. The Entertainment area also gives die-hard soccer fans a chance to test their FIFA World Cup(TM) knowledge through an interactive trivia game. Other content includes the ability to discover the FIFA World Cup(TM) Official Mascots in the Mascot Zone, listen to the official FIFA World Cup(TM) song, and download computer screen-savers and “wallpaper” of past FIFA World Cup(TM) matches.

Destination Asia

For fans traveling to Asia for the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM), the official site includes information on host cities, venues, ticketing, hospitality, local organizing committee contacts, as well as stadium photos, locations and capacities.

About the Yahoo!-FIFA Relationship

In September 2001, Yahoo! and FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), the world governing body of soccer, entered into an exclusive, multi-year, global relationship. Through the agreement, FIFA and Yahoo! will jointly produce, market, and commercially operate the official Web site of the FIFA World Cup(TM) (http://www.FIFAworldcup.com ). At the same time, Yahoo! has become one of 16 Official FIFA Partners worldwide. The deal includes the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan(TM) (May 31 – June 30) and the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) in Germany.