http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,17619330-23215,00.html
A GERMANY interior decorator is trying to cash in on the contents of a rubbish bag after finding 32 scraps of paper bearing the names of the World Cup finalists.
Matthias Blume, who helped to clean up after the World Cup draw was made in Leipzig on December 9, said his attempts to sell the scraps of paper to souvenir hunters around the world are being challenged by FIFA, football's world governing body.
"I just found them in a garbage bag," said Blume, 31. "I was helping dismantle the stage for the show and, as an interior decorator, I always have my eye on the trash to see if there's anything useful or anything that can be recycled.
"I had no idea the slips from the draw were in there," said Blume, who lives in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, 150km north of Leipzig.
"I was looking for wood and other salvageable materials. I thought trash is trash."
Blume said he took all 32 slips home as a souvenir and was going to throw them away after showing them around.
After prompting from friends, who reminded him of a lucrative auction for a used German car that once belonged to Pope Benedict, Blume contacted officials at the internet auctioneer ebay which gave him the green light to offer his scraps of paper.
An internet casino company paid 188,983 euro ($306,169) in May for a used Volkswagen the Pope had used several years ago.
Blume decided to auction off the slips that were folded up inside glass balls at the World Cup draw.
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"I started thinking 'these things can't just be thrown away'," he said.
"There are so many World Cup fans around the world. These pieces of paper are part of history."
But Blume said FIFA officials are challenging his attempts to capitalise on the simple slips of paper that had the English words "Germany" or "Brazil" or "Japan" written on them, due to trademark issues.
No one from FIFA or the German World Cup organising committee was available for comment.
Blume, who has hired a lawyer, said he has no plans to withdraw the slips of paper from the auction which runs until Thursday.
He had expected a maximum of 100 euros ($162) per piece of paper, and said he was amazed that bids for "Germany" had already hit 1000 euro ($1620) while others had also climbed steadily since he first opened the bidding last Thursday. Bids for "Brazil" hit 162 euro ($262) overnight, while "Italy" was fetching 103 euro ($166), "USA" 102 euro ($165). "Spain" 71 euro ($115) and "England" 55 euro ($89).
FIFA threatens legal action over World Cup rubbish sale
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http://english.people.com.cn/200512/22/eng20051222_229928.html
Soccer's governing body FIFA has threatened to take legal action against a German man after he recovered the name tags used in the televised draw for the World Cup from the garbage and offered them for sale on eBay.
Matthias Blume, a 31 year-old decorator, said he had found the orange tags with the names of the 32 teams in next year's World Cup finals when he was helping to clean up after the World Cup draw was made in Leipzig on December 9.
He said he had at first taken them as souvenirs but after discussing the matter with friends, put them up for sale on the online auction site.
FIFA was not amused.
"FIFA has sent a warning to the legal representatives of the person concerned and pointed out that this is a violation of FIFA's name rights and that the auction should be stopped," said FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren.
"If that doesn't happen, we will have to look at further legal steps," he said.
But Blume, from the eastern German city of Magdeburg was unrepentant.
"I want to see it through," he said. "I'm a fighter, I like a fight and this is a real fight."
He said he was surprised by the interest in the auction, which had attracted enquiries from around the world.
"We've had post from Uruguay, from England, we've had the first emails from Brazil," he said.
Almost 19,000 visits had been made to the eBay section offering Germany's tag for sale and bids had already topped 1,000 euros (US$1,198) for that slip alone. "It's pretty heavy," he said.
The auction is due to run until December 25 but Blume was unwilling to predict what the final sum might total.
"We'll see. I don't really have much of an idea of what it will bring in or how much money it will make," he said. "I hope it will be able to pay for my lawyer's bills."
Source: China Daily
A GERMANY interior decorator is trying to cash in on the contents of a rubbish bag after finding 32 scraps of paper bearing the names of the World Cup finalists.
Matthias Blume, who helped to clean up after the World Cup draw was made in Leipzig on December 9, said his attempts to sell the scraps of paper to souvenir hunters around the world are being challenged by FIFA, football's world governing body.
"I just found them in a garbage bag," said Blume, 31. "I was helping dismantle the stage for the show and, as an interior decorator, I always have my eye on the trash to see if there's anything useful or anything that can be recycled.
"I had no idea the slips from the draw were in there," said Blume, who lives in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, 150km north of Leipzig.
"I was looking for wood and other salvageable materials. I thought trash is trash."
Blume said he took all 32 slips home as a souvenir and was going to throw them away after showing them around.
After prompting from friends, who reminded him of a lucrative auction for a used German car that once belonged to Pope Benedict, Blume contacted officials at the internet auctioneer ebay which gave him the green light to offer his scraps of paper.
An internet casino company paid 188,983 euro ($306,169) in May for a used Volkswagen the Pope had used several years ago.
Blume decided to auction off the slips that were folded up inside glass balls at the World Cup draw.
Advertisement:
"I started thinking 'these things can't just be thrown away'," he said.
"There are so many World Cup fans around the world. These pieces of paper are part of history."
But Blume said FIFA officials are challenging his attempts to capitalise on the simple slips of paper that had the English words "Germany" or "Brazil" or "Japan" written on them, due to trademark issues.
No one from FIFA or the German World Cup organising committee was available for comment.
Blume, who has hired a lawyer, said he has no plans to withdraw the slips of paper from the auction which runs until Thursday.
He had expected a maximum of 100 euros ($162) per piece of paper, and said he was amazed that bids for "Germany" had already hit 1000 euro ($1620) while others had also climbed steadily since he first opened the bidding last Thursday. Bids for "Brazil" hit 162 euro ($262) overnight, while "Italy" was fetching 103 euro ($166), "USA" 102 euro ($165). "Spain" 71 euro ($115) and "England" 55 euro ($89).
FIFA threatens legal action over World Cup rubbish sale
Soccer's governing body FIFA has threatened to take legal action against a German man after he recovered the name tags used in the televised draw for the World Cup from the garbage and offered them for sale on eBay.
Matthias Blume, a 31 year-old decorator, said he had found the orange tags with the names of the 32 teams in next year's World Cup finals when he was helping to clean up after the World Cup draw was made in Leipzig on December 9.
He said he had at first taken them as souvenirs but after discussing the matter with friends, put them up for sale on the online auction site.
FIFA was not amused.
"FIFA has sent a warning to the legal representatives of the person concerned and pointed out that this is a violation of FIFA's name rights and that the auction should be stopped," said FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren.
"If that doesn't happen, we will have to look at further legal steps," he said.
But Blume, from the eastern German city of Magdeburg was unrepentant.
"I want to see it through," he said. "I'm a fighter, I like a fight and this is a real fight."
He said he was surprised by the interest in the auction, which had attracted enquiries from around the world.
"We've had post from Uruguay, from England, we've had the first emails from Brazil," he said.
Almost 19,000 visits had been made to the eBay section offering Germany's tag for sale and bids had already topped 1,000 euros (US$1,198) for that slip alone. "It's pretty heavy," he said.
The auction is due to run until December 25 but Blume was unwilling to predict what the final sum might total.
"We'll see. I don't really have much of an idea of what it will bring in or how much money it will make," he said. "I hope it will be able to pay for my lawyer's bills."
Source: China Daily
