The Fifa World Cup

The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of the Second World War.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy, the current champions, have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each.

History

The World Cup is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.^[1] The current World Cup is being held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.

After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven different countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory."

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original.

This year the world cup tournament is being held in South Africa. The tournament started in June the 11^th and it will end in july the 11^th.

The Lebanese President Michel Suleiman

General Michel Sleiman took command of the Lebanese Armed Forces on December 21st 1998. He was born on November 21st 1948 in the town of Amchit - Caza of Jbeil.
He graduated from the Military Academy as 2nd Lieutenant 1970. General Sleiman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politic and Administrative Sciences from the Lebanese University.

During his military service, he progressed from an infantry Platoon Leader to a Battalion Commander, and then assumed the position of a trainer in the Military Academy and in the Non Commissioned Officers’ School. From December 4th 1990 until August 24th 1991 he was appointed as the Chief of the Intelligence Branch of Mount Lebanon. On August 25th 1991 he was reassigned to the post of the Army Staff Secretary-General until June 10th 1993. Then, he became the Commander of the 11th infantry brigade from June 6th 1993 until January 15th 1996, a period that witnessed violent confrontations with Israeli enemy on the front side of the regions of West Bekaa and South Lebanon. On January 15th 1996 he was appointed as Commander of the 6th infantry brigade and remained in this post until December 21st 1998 when he was nominated as the Armed Forces Commander.

Accomplishments — Protected mass anti-Syria demonstrations and counter-protests; squashed sectarian violence; deployed army in Hezbollah strongholds of southern Lebanon for first time in decades; crushed rebellion by Islamic extremists in northern Lebanon.

He is the 12th and current commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). He succeeded Emile Lahoud after he was elected as the President of Lebanon.

While serving in the Lebanese army, President Michel Suleiman has won the following medals.

* National Order of the Cedar, knight grade and grand cordon grade - Lebanese Order of Merit, 3rd, 2nd and 1st grades - Decoration of Military Pride, silver grade - Medal of War - Decoration of Military Valor, silver grade - Decoration of the National Unity - Decoration of the Dawn of the South - Syrian Order of Merit, Grade of Excellence - Certificate of Honor of the Arab Union - Decoration of Arab Union for Military Sports, 2nd degree (commander) - President of Ukrainian Republic. The Defense ministry of the Republic of Russian Federation in 2007

* Military Medal - Internal Security forces’ Medal - General Security Medal - State security Medal - Commemorative Medal of Conferences for the year 2002.

* Citations of the Armed Forces Commander, 4 times - Felicitations of the Armed Forces Commander, 18 times - Felicitations of the Brigade Commander, once.