- Zakumi
Zakumi (b. June 16, 1994) is the Official Mascot for the
2010 FIFA World Cup . He is aleopard with green hair, presented September 22, 2008. His name comes from "ZA" theISO 3166 code for South Africa and "kumi" a word that meansten in variousAfrican languages.Zakumi's birthdate coincides with a day known and celebrated as
Youth Day inSouth Africa . The year 1994 marks the birth of democracy in South Africa, meaning that he joins the ranks ofSouth Africa 's born-free generation. He will turn 16 in 2010. [cite news|publisher=IOL |date=2008-09-22|accessdate=2008-09-23|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Sport&set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=vn20080923060144365C854290|title=Meet Zakumi, the face of 2010]The green and yellow (gold) colours of the character match the colours used in South African sport uniforms and can also be seen in the
South Africa national football team 's kit.Andries Odendaal, from
Cape Town , created the original character design. Cora costumes from Boksburg, South Africa produced the costume. [cite news|publisher=IOL |date=2008-09-22|accessdate=2008-09-23|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Sport&set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=vn20080923060144365C854290|title=Meet Zakomi, the face of 2010] .ee also
*
FIFA World Cup mascots
*FIFA World Cup 2010 References
External links
[http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/mascot/index.html FIFA's official webpage on Zakumi]
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