FIFA and Panini kick off new Agreement

FIFA and Panini [the world's largest publisher of collectibles] have today signed a joint agreement for the next six years.

The exclusive agreement will cover the next two FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014 for trading cards and sticker album collections. Panini collections have proven to be so popular over the last 10 tournaments that Panini became the natural choice to continue its work with FIFA.

Thierry Weil, FIFA's Director of Marketing said: "FIFA is proud to work with our long-term licensee Panini for the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cupsä, especially after the success story of Germany in 2006."

The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany created the opportunity for Panini to mastermind the most successful collectable campaign in history. Panini sold its programme in almost 100 countries around the world, smashing all previous sales records.

Trading cards and stickers are collected by an increasing number of consumer groups. Three generations have now grown up with the hobby as a firm favourite, with many children benefiting from the keen assistance and involvement of their parents and grandparents. However, many enthusiasts within the older age brackets do not need children as their excuse to get involved and are openly as keen to complete their collections.

Peter Warsop, Panini's Group Licensing Director said: "The Panini Group is privileged to have been appointed the exclusive collectible sticker and trading card licensee again. FIFA's decision to re-appoint us as its licensee is a great reward for the investments made previously. We are already in discussions with our promotional partners and are committed to continuing the positive trends we have already seen across all product categories."

Note to editors:

The Panini Group was established almost 50 years ago in Modena , Italy and with its subsidiaries throughout Europe and Latin America , it is the world leader in the published collectibles sector. Panini is also the leading multi-national publisher of comics, children's magazines and manga in Europe and Latin America . The Panini Group is expected to record sales in 2008 of approximately USD 1 billion, has distribution channels in more than 100 countries, and employs a staff of more than 700.

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For further information, contact: Panini S.p.A., Viale Emilio Po 380, 41100 Modena .

E-mail: Peter Warsop; pwarsop@panini.it
Web: http://www.paninigroup.com; Tel.: 0044 7785 365 366

For more news on the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cupsä, please visit the official website: http://www.fifa.com

Further information from:

FIFA Media Department

Tel.: +41-43/222 7272, fax: +41-43/222 7373, e-mail: media@fifa.org

FIFA COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION / Zurich , 28 January 2009 / 2009-08-FIFA-PaniniLicence-E.doc

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