England's Prince William will be supporting his national team at their opening match against Paraguay.

Costa Rican President and 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias and EU President Jos¨¦ Manuel Barroso will be at the curtain raiser in Munich, as will Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana.

The Emir of Qatar will be taking in several matches. Germany's President, Horst K?hler,and Chancellor Angela Merkel will be regulars at Germany's matches.

They, along with numerous other national and international representatives and a wealth of prominent figures from Germany, will be among the Organising Committee's honorary guests at the FIFA World Cup 2006.

They will receive complimentary tickets to the stadiums. A quota of 250 tickets are available for "normal" matches, with 600 tickets available for the opening match, the semi-final (if Germany are involved), and the Final. FIFA can also plan on having the same number of complimentary tickets for the FIFA protocol committee.

By means of comparison: up to 2,000 complimentary tickets are issued for German Football Association (DFB) international matches. The OC protocol team is responsible for organizational support, along with the protocol committees of the DFB, the German states, and the FIFA World Cup cities. The OC has 800 hostesses and 125 volunteers ready in the VIP areas to ensure that protocol runs smoothly.