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Committee warns 2010 bandwagon jumpers |
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Thursday, 03 March 2005 |
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The 2010 Soccer World Cup is still five years down the line, but ambush marketers are already cashing in on it. Illegal organisations and websites operating in the name of the 2010 Soccer World Cup are mushrooming. The local organising committee (LOC) has already instructed the operator of a Sweden-based website to close shop or face the music.
Last May, when Fifa announced that South Africa would host soccer's global showpiece in 2010, some people saw this as an opportunity to make easy money. Briton Damien Dugdale has registered a website "worldcup2010southafrica.com", claiming it to be an official website of the LOC, without proper authorisation. The website unlawfully uses the trademarks, logo, and domain names of South Africa's 2010 bid committee. "In our view this is a clear invasion of the rights of the LOC and the South African body. It is a clear reference to the World Cup Soccer 2010 which is to be played here. If you look at the logo which they have on the website it's exactly the same, so there can be no doubt at all as to what they are trying to do," said Don MacRobert, a lawyer for the SA 2010 LOC. The website has been given an ultimatum to close down or face prosecution. MacRobert hopes this would serve as a warning to others who hope to cash in as ambush marketers. from SABC |
