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FIFA dismisses World Cup draw speculation

10th December, 2013
8

Football’s ruling body FIFA has dismissed conspiracy theories around the 2014 World Cup draw, saying there was no manipulation at last week’s event in Brazil.

“These rumours are totally unfounded,” FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said on Tuesday.

There was speculation after Friday’s draw that Argentina was not placed by chance in group F, along with Iran, Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Argentine reports said reporters were told ahead of the draw in which group Lionel Messi’s team would be, and the team’s World Cup base camp was set up before the draw in Belo Horizonte, where they will play against Iran.

Twitter posts allegedly accurately predicting the composition of group F added to conspiracy theories, so did allegedly FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, for opening the balls containing the team names not fully visible behind his lectern.

But FIFA said “all the preparations for the draw were monitored and validated by three representatives of Ernst and Young”, and that seven cameras were constantly focused on Valcke during the draw, with the show’s TV director deciding on the spot which camera angle was shown.

Click here for the full draw of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

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