Welcome!
Welcome!
ERABEH! - BONVENON! - XqWAG! - WELLCOME! - EF-VOLD! - VELLVENNUIT! - SHARLH'AAM! - VELITANA! - USLE APUD! - BIENVENUE! - BENVINGUTS! - EH R'PA'! - VENBINDAT! PLANVENGUTS!! - ISTEN HOZOTT! - VELKOMIN! VÄLKOMMEN! - VELLKOMMEN! - VÆLKOMMEN! POITKOMOUNI! - WHO MEJ! - BOA VINDA!
It gives me
especially great pleasure to welcome you to the greatest sporting
event on the planet Vexillium - the Vexillium Cup! After
the successes of Christiana-Davenport '98, a successful bid
was made by the Federal
Republic of Whitlam, and the Kingdom of Eastern Zartania, two of
the planet's greatest
sporting rivals, and two of the Old Continent's premier
footballing nations, to host the competition for the year 299.
Whitlam-Zartania '99 is the pinnacle of Football supremacy on the planet, and hundreds of Vexillium's best athletes from 48 countries are represented. Every continent, with the exception of Glaciaria and Polaria, is participating, and the lure of the Cup and international glory has encouraged even the smallest countries who may not have Football as a national sport to hold tryouts for their teams, and to participate and try to snatch a piece of the glory, a piece of the dream. The dream of the Vexillium Cup!
Last year's champions, Christiana will be back again to defend their title, with the expectation of a strong challenge from all participating nations. Football again exploded all over the planet after CD'98, and we expect it to continue to grow after this tournament, the premier tournament, the VEXILLUM CUP.
I wish all the teams good luck, and all the fans a good time! May the best team win!
Thank you for your attention, and let's play!
Baldriarch K. "Goooooal" Kickins, President IVEFA
Greetings
to one and all!
It is such a great pleasure and honor for Eastern Zartania to be co-hosting the Vexillium Cup this year. This is, without a doubt, the single greatest, most prestigious sporting event on the planet, and we're proud to be part of such an event. When it was announced by the IVEFA after VexCup '98 that the next one would be co-hosted by Eastern Zartania and Whitlam, we were overjoyed. But we were also concerned.
How could we possibly
top the hosting job done by Christiana in the last VexCup?
So we began working closely with our Whitlamite neighbors and
allies on a plan. After three months of careful planning,
both countries went to work with a frenzied determination to get
the job done. Here in Eastern Zartania, a brand new
110,000-seat soccer stadium
was built in Imperial
City to house the KTZ National Soccer Team and to help host the
VexCup. We also expanded several of our domestic soccer
stadiums, built hundreds of new hotels, motels, and restaurants,
increased our airport and harbor facilities to handle the influx
of fans, and laid thousands of miles of new roads and
railroads. In all, nearly two billion Crowns have been
spent preparing the Kingdom for this greatest of
opportunities. In the meantime, however, security concerns
have cropped up, and Eastern Zartania has found itself engaged in
several armed conflicts around the globe. With added
police, Tal'Shiyr, and stek militia providing security for the
games, we expect the minimum of possible disturbances. When
all is said and done, we're expecting these games of VexCup '99,
although played a little late, to be the best ones yet! My
family and I, as well as several other officials in the Royal
Government, are looking forward to attending all of the KTZ
National Team games, and several other games played in the
Kingdom.
So, on behalf of the Royal Family, the Royal Government, and the People of the Kingdom of Eastern Zartania, I bid greetings and welcome to all of the teams and fans from around the world! Welcome to VexCup '99 in beautiful Eastern Zartania and Whitlam, and please enjoy your stay!
Sincerely,
Bruno II vun Q'Leist
HRM, King of Eastern
Zartania
from the Imperial Palace
Welcome...
to the Vexillium Cup!
More importantly,
welcome to Whitlam.
It pleases me greatly to
be involved in the opening of this major event, and I trust that
it will be a success. However, I will keep my speech short,
because I think most of you would think that football was far
more interesting than my speeches!
I'd like to simply give thanks for a moment.
Firstly, I thank the international community. I'd like to thank most nations on the planet for agreeing to put aside their differences to come together in sport. More importantly, to come together in the World Game. While there will be intense rivalries on-field, I trust that once players come off the pitch, they will all be put aside, and both sides, winners and losers, will come together, not to celebrate the victory of one side over another, but of the human spirit, and the unity that joins us through our love of the Beautiful Game.
I trust that all players, staff, officials, and spectators will enjoy their stay either here in Whitlam, or in Eastern Zartania, and that all involved will make this event the sporting success it deserves to be. The postponement caused by the conflict to our east was unfortunate, and I would also like to give thanks to the brave peoples, Zartanian, Pentian, Gronkian, all peoples, who died in the recent conflict as a result of violence thanks to a lunatic fringe in an otherwise fine country.
I hope the sapping of the human spirit can be ended, at the very least, for the duration of the cup, and that a renewal can begin.
Thank you all for participating.
Enough with this, In my capacity, I declare Whitlam's part of the VexCup OPEN! May the best and fairest team win!
The Right Honourable
Sir Edward Gough Whitlam,
FotN, FotR, KC (KTZ),
OJA KCP (ALT) FSM (KTZ), MP (TMC), RC (FRW), B.A., LLB (Hons.,
UNWC).