FIFA World Cup™ in 3D wins international award

FIFA’s efforts to constantly improve fans’ viewing experience of football have been recognised by the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), the leading international forum for the electronic media industry. At a ceremony in Amsterdam on Sunday, FIFA was awarded the prestigious Judges’ Prize for its decision – with only six months to go before kick-off – to broadcast the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ in 3D




FIFA shares the prize with its partners in this sports viewing innovation, namely official FIFA Partner Sony, 2010 FIFA World Cup host broadcaster HBS, and FIFA Media Rights Licensee ESPN. The judges acknowledged the teamwork and admirable collaboration between the four entities in bringing the project to a timely and successful conclusion at such short notice.


"It is a great honour to receive this recognition from such a venerable institution as the IBC for our endeavours in launching the FIFA World Cup into the third dimension."
Niclas Ericson, director, FIFA TV


Accepting the prize on behalf of the group, Niclas Ericson, Director, FIFA TV said: "It is a great honour to receive this recognition from such a venerable institution as the IBC for our endeavours in launching the FIFA World Cup into the third dimension. The judges’ award is sheer gratification for all the hard work in our race against time to ensure this new viewing experience of football in 3D could be enjoyed by as many fans as possible and in the best quality imaginable by kick-off of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Our dream of the first World Cup in 3D only became a reality thanks to the commitment and the professionalism of our partners."

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ was the first global sports event to be broadcast in 3D. Twenty-five matches were filmed at five of the 10 stadiums by two dedicated 3D camera teams. The 3D feed was made available to Media Rights Licensees for "in-home" viewing on 3D channels. Public viewing of 3D broadcasts also made its debut, whereby a selection of matches were fed live to around 650 digital cinemas as well as selected venues in 3D HD quality around the globe.