FIFA Zurich – As part of FIFA’s Centennial commemorations, FIFA and DUET will present “The FIFA 100” Charity Auction & Tribute Ceremony today at the Natural History Museum in London.
This prestigious awards dinner celebrates “The FIFA 100” – a unique photographic project where `Art meets Football’, commemorating the greatest living players chosen by Pelé and approved by FIFA for the 100th anniversary of the world’s governing body of football.
All of “The FIFA 100” players present will be presented with a special recognition award by Michel Platini on behalf of FIFA and Pelé. The evening will commence with a charity auction organised by Christie’s with the proceeds to be dedicated to the FIFA Goal Programme, which currently supports 160 football infrastructure projects around the world. Following the tribute ceremony, the band Duran Duran will be presenting a special new song associated with the evening’s celebrations for “The FIFA 100”.
To celebrate FIFA’s Centennial, 18 of the world’s leading photographers were commissioned to make a portrait collection of the world’s most influential living players; after much deliberation, Pelé arrived at a list of 125 players, 75 retired and 50 active. The photos were taken over the last six months – with the exception of six archive photos for FIFA 100 players who were unavailable for the shoots – and will be shown for the first time at “The FIFA 100” Charity Auction & Tribute Ceremony.
“The FIFA 100” will then be exhibited around the globe, opening in Paris at Charles de Gaulle Airport in May 2004. The tour will then move to London to mark a “summer of football” from June to August 2004 with two exhibitions, “The FIFA 100” at the Royal Academy of Arts (6 Burlington Gardens) and “Pelé – The Art of a King” at the County Hall Gallery. In October, the exhibition will head to Japan, appearing in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills. From November 2004 to May 2005, “The FIFA 100” will be part of the Football Exhibition at the International Olympic Committee Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
A commemorative “The FIFA 100” photo book has been produced and will be distributed worldwide by Royal Academy Publications. “The FIFA 100” photographs can be seen from 4 March onwards at www.the-100.com.
The full FIFA top 100 list is:
Russia (former Soviet Union) Rinat Dassaiev
Scotland Kenny Dalglish
Senegal El Hadji Diouf
Spain Emilio Butragueno, Luis Enrique, Raul
Turkey Emre Belozoglu Rustu Recber
Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko
Uruguay Enzo Francescoli
USA Michelle Akers Mia Hamm
Ghana Abedi Pele
Hungary Ferenc Puskas
Ireland Roy Keane
Italy Roberto Baggio Franco Baresi Giuseppe Bergomi Giampiero Boniperti Gianluigi Buffon Giacinto Facchetti Paolo Maldini Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Nesta Gianni Rivera Paolo Rossi Francesco Totti
Christian Vieri Dino Zoff
Japan Hidetoshi Nakata
Korea Republic Hong Myung-bo
Liberia George Weah
Mexico Hugo Sanchez
Netherlands Marco van Basten Dennis Bergkamp Johan Cruyff Edgar Davids Ruud Gullit Willy van de Kerkhof Rene van de Kerkhof Patrick Kluivert Johan Neeskens Ruud van Nistelrooy Rob Rensenbrink Frank Rijkaard Clarence Seedorf
Nigeria Jay-Jay Okocha
Northern Ireland George Best
Paraguay Romerito
Peru Teofilo Cubillas
Poland Zbigniew Boniek
Portugal Rui Costa Eusebio Luis Figo
Romania Gheorghe Hagi
France Eric Cantona Marcel Desailly Didier Deschamps Just Fontaine Thierry Henry Raymond Kopa Jean-Pierre Papin Robert Pires Michel Platini Lilian Thuram Marius Tresor David Trezeguet Patrick Vieira Zinedine Zidane
Germany (and former Federal Republic of Germany) Michael Ballack Franz Beckenbauer Paul Breitner
Oliver Kahn Juergen Klinsmann Sepp Maier Lothar Matthaeus Gerd Muller Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Uwe Seeler
Argentina Gabriel Batistuta Hernan Crespo Mario Kempes Diego Maradona Daniel Passarella Javier Saviola Omar Sivori Alfredo Di Stefano Juan Sebastian Veron Javier Zanetti
Belgium Jan Ceulemans Franky van der Elst Jean-Marie Pfaff
Brazil Carlos Alberto Cafu Roberto Carlos Falcao Junior Pele Rivaldo Rivelino Romario Ronaldinho Ronaldo Djalma Santos Nilton SantosSocrates Zico
Bulgaria Hristo Stoitchkov
Cameroon Roger Milla
Chile Elias Figueroa Ivan Zamorano
Colombia Carlos Valderrama
Croatia Davor Suker
Czech Republic (and former Czechoslovakia) Josef Masopust Pavel Nedved
Denmark Brian Laudrup Michael Laudrup Peter Schmeichel
England Gordon Bank David Beckham Bobby Charlton Kevin Keegan Gary Lineker Michael Owen Alan Shearer