World Cup mascot names in global ballot

The World Cup mascot will be named by someone in the world.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and ISL, a marketing agency of the FIFA, jointly held an event to name to the World Cup mascot Tuesday, 500 days before the 2002 World Cup opening, and revealed some proposals for candidates.

The character announced last year was the Spheriks, a new word that has an imaginary character having shining and semitransparent bodies, and consists of a coach and two football players, and means a small energy packet. They are planning to fix the name of the Spheriks through balloting among people in the world.

FIFA has decided to select three candidate names that all people in the world can easily pronounce and remember, and finalize the successful candidate through balloting.

Candidates for the name of the yellow coach Spheriks holding a ball in the center are Amo, Poz, and Ato, and those for the name of the blue player Spheriks on the coach¡¯s right side are Char, Nik, and Rem, and those of the violet football player Spheriks are Kaz, Rom, and Dap.

Football fans in Korea and Japan are able to submit names at all McDonald¡¯s outlets from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28. Applications also are available through the home page of the FIFA World Cup (www.FIFAworldcup.com).

FIFA plans to officially announce the results for the naming April 26, 400 days before the World Cup opening.