Fans can Tweet teams to victory in Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup

With everyone gearing up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM), Sony Ericsson is offering fans exclusive and exciting ways to support their team online and take them to victory in the first World Cup with social networking and media sharing at its heart.

TORONTO , Dec. 11 /CNW/ - As excitement builds in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) in South Africa , Sony Ericsson, the Official Mobile Handset of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM), introduces a new way for football fans in Canada to get behind their favourite team online through a unique social networking initiative.

The Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup will see the 32 teams competing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) in South Africa , battle it out in an online tournament with a difference - it will be the fans that decide who will lift the virtual trophy. Fans will be able to participate in this exciting competition either online or via their mobile handset.

The tournament kicked off from 4th December 2009 , coinciding with the draw for the group stage of the official tournament. To get their favourite country through each round, fans need to show their support by Tweeting No.TWC and then the name of their favourite team's country. The team with the most Tweets in each round will prevail and go on to the next stage, regardless of how the real team fares in South Africa .

"Sony Ericsson is dedicated to providing football fans with the best experience of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM), giving them more ways to support their team, share their views and get involved with all aspects of the beautiful game," said Peter Farmer , Director of Marketing, Sony Ericsson Canada . "The Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup will put Sony Ericsson at the heart of the first World Cup to celebrate the advent of social networking, and will be part of a series of initiatives that will enrich their experience and enable them to communicate via mobile devices like never before."

An online stadium featured on Sony Ericsson's dedicated 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) Extra Man website (www.sonyericsson.com/extraman) will showcase every stage of the tournament taking place on Twitter. Fans in Canada can follow all the action, from viewing and posting individual Tweets about their favourite team through to seeing what the loudest Tweeter in each group has to say about all the games on and off the virtual pitch. Fans simply need to go to the Extra Man website, click on the link to the Twitter Cup and get Tweeting to help take their favourite team all the way to the final.

Tweets about fans' favourite teams are represented by the colours of that country's national flag in the virtual stadium - the bigger the flag becomes, the more popular the team and the closer they are to being crowned the winner of the Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup. The wall chart view will let fans see the progress of their team and who's playing who in the knockout stages, so it's easy to compare the results with the real 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM).

The Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup rules are as follows:

    
    -   The Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup follows the same format as the 2010
        FIFA World Cup(TM). There are group and knockout stages, including
        quarter finals, semi finals and the final itself.

        -  However, unlike the physical tournament, teams' success in the
           Sony Ericsson Twitter Cup depends on how many Tweets they get.

        -  The more Tweets a country gets, the more fans they have and the
           better chance they have of progressing to the subsequent rounds.

        -  Sony Ericsson will monitor all the activity on Twitter - from the
           first round draw on 4th December 2009 through to the final on 11th
           July 2010.

        -  A general Tweet about a team will win the team one point; a Tweet
           with No.TWC and then the country name, is worth five points for
           the team.
    

Sony Ericsson is uniquely placed to be a champion of football fans worldwide. Mobile communications is an integral part of the fan experience - whether watching in the stadium, at home or at a fan park, fans bring their handsets with them. Sony Ericsson will use its football partnership and expertise in mobile phone entertainment to energize and enrich the experience of consumers worldwide.

Sony Ericsson is the Official Mobile Handset of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM), which arose through Sony Corporation, as the Digital Life Partner of FIFA. Sony Ericsson agreed to sub-license the category from Sony Corporation and the agreement includes all FIFA events until 2010 including the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) in South Africa . The Digital Life category includes mobile handsets as well as consumer electronics, professional and broadcast AV and other equipment, personal computers, movies, music and gaming.

Legal

(C) Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, 2009.

The liquid identity and liquid energy are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB. "SONY" and "make.believe" are trademarks of Sony Corporation.

Ericsson is the trademark or registered trademark of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson.

About Sony Ericsson:

Sony Ericsson is a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson established in October 2001 , with global corporate functions located in London and operations in all major markets. Our vision is to become the industry leader in Communication Entertainment; where new styles of communicating through the internet and social media, become entertainment. Sony Ericsson offers exciting consumer experiences through phones, accessories, content and applications. For more information please visit: www.sonyericsson.com.

About FIFA:

For more than 100 years, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris and better known as FIFA, has continued to provide the essential leadership role to the international football family. Headquartered in Zurich , Switzerland , the eighth FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter guides the organisation today with a commitment to the evolution of FIFA as a modern and dynamic association. The basis of the world's football family is formed by FIFA's members. From the founding seven, the family has today grown to 208 affiliated football associations, also organised into six confederations spanning the globe.

FIFA's worldwide activities go well beyond touching the world through its various competitions, such as the world's biggest single-sport event, the FIFA World Cup(TM). In football development projects such as the FIFA GOAL Programme as well as in corporate social responsibility activities (including the Football for Hope movement to support through football social and human development) FIFA makes material, financial and promotional contributions to develop the game and to build a better future. For the Game. For the World. To find out more about FIFA and its initiatives please check out www.FIFA.com.

About the FIFA World Cup(TM):

The FIFA World Cup(TM) is the world's governing body of football's flagship event, occurring every four years with the best 32 nations of the six confederations battling it out for the ultimate prize in football - the FIFA World Cup(TM) Trophy. The brainchild of the third President of FIFA, Jules Rimet, the FIFA World Cup(TM) was first staged in Uruguay in 1930 and emerged decades later to be the biggest single-sports event with a cumulative audience of more than 26 billion TV viewers in more than 200 countries over the 64 matches for the 2006 tournament. In 2010, the 19th edition will be held for the first time on African soil.

For further information: John Settino/Anne Morello, The iPR Group, [phone], [email protected]/[email protected]