The volunteer application process for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 closed this weekend — with a whopping 37 408 South African residents responding to the call for volunteers.

The process which opened on 1 July 2008 closed on Sunday, 31 August, with the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee still inundated with tens of thousands of applications from South African residents wanting to volunteer to be part of the first major FIFA event in the country and this continent.

Johannesburg residents led the pack with 17 262 volunteer applications by the time of the closure of the process, followed by Mangaung/Bloemfontein with 7401 applications, Rustenburg with 6764 applications, and Tshwane/Pretoria with 5981 applications.

While the application process for the FIFA Confederations Cup was available only to South African residents, the Organising Committee received numerous queries from Germany, Brazil, USA, Ghana and Australia — showing the worldwide interest in and popularity of the Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first being held on the African continent.

"We are humbled and greatly encouraged by the incredible response from South African residents who have responded to our call for volunteers for the Confederations Cup," said Dr Danny Jordaan, the 2010 LOC Chief Executive Officer.

He added: "After the end of the Beijing Olympics the world's attention has shifted to South Africa and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"The wonderful response to the volunteer application process shows that our people are enthusiastic about playing their part and getting involved in the success of the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

"The volunteer process provides an ideal opportunity for South Africans to open their arms and to embrace the world.

The Confederations Cup will definitely be a festival of football as reigning FIFA World Champions Italy will be competing with Spain — the newly crowned kings of Europe — the Pharoahs of Africa, Egypt, and the sexy samba style football of South American champions, Brazil.

The other teams who have qualified for the Confederations Cup are CONCACAF champions United States and Asian champions Iraq, with hosts South Africa and the incumbent Oceania champions completing the line-up of teams vying for the title of 'Champion of Champions'.

A total of 4030 volunteers will be required in the four Confederations Cup host cities to assist in operational areas such as accreditation, administration, information technology, language support, logistics, transport, information services, media and marketing during the tournament.