South African actress Charlize Theron will serve as co-host of Friday's World Cup draw in Cape Town, FIFA announced Tuesday.
Theron, who won the Best Actress award at the 2004 Oscars, will join FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke as co-host of the 90-minute show that will be televised live to an estimated global audience of more than 200 million people in 200 countries (CBC, CBCSports.ca, Noon ET).
The draw, which is expected to be attended by around 800 media representatives, will determine the eight first-round groups and the match order for the 32 teams who will contest the FIFA World Cup from June 11 to July 11, 2010.
Theron is just one of a number of dignitaries who will take part in the draw. Others include soccer star David Beckham, South African President Jacob Zuma, and Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Frederik W. de Klerk
Former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, who played a major role in bringing the World Cup to Africa, is expected to address the celebrities and soccer officials via video message.
"This is a very important event for football and Africa as the final draw comes to Cape Town where an unprecedented six teams from the host continent will be represented," Valcke said in a media release.
"We expect a record global audience which I hope will be glued to their screens for the duration of the show."
FIFA will announce which teams will be seeded for the draw on Wednesday.
