India might have crashed out of the 2010 football World Cup at the qualification stage itself, but the country will have a strong presence when the final rounds of the tournament kick off in South Africa a little over two years from now.

Satyam Computer Services, one of India's leading consulting and information technology services providers, signed an agreement on Saturday with FIFA, football's world governing body, making it the first Indian company to enter the exclusive domain of World Cup sponsors.

As per the agreement, Satyam will be the official Information Technology Services provider for the 2010 World Cup and the 2014 edition in Brazil, with the Confederation Cup in each cycle being part of the deal.

Big step forward

It's a big step forward for an Indian company, with Satyam being one of the four FIFA World Cup sponsors announced for the 2010 event as of now.

"It's a great day because for the first time in the history of FIFA, we have a global company from India supporting the event," FIFA president Joseph S Blatter said at a press conference. "It's a big partnership between two teams and I welcome Satyam for being a part in the growth of FIFA."

B Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam, described it as a momentous day. "For sometime now, we have been supporting FIFA at the technology level. As a company, we are expanding on a day-to-day basis and this also represents a special relationship, as football is a sport that represents excellence. It will also provide a higher level of brand awareness for Satyam," he said.

Raju refused to divulge financial details of the deal, stating it as a positive challenge and a huge opportunity to show that they have something special to offer at the most watched sporting event in the world.

Meanwhile, throwing light on the preparations for the World Cup, Blatter said there would be three kick-off timings daily -- 1.00 pm, 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm South African time. There are concerns over South Africa's readiness for the event and the FIFA top brass has been working hard to resolve the problems dogging the organisers, including construction delays.

Preliminary draw

The preliminary draw -- the first official FIFA event in South Africa for the World Cup -- is to take place here on Sunday and the entire city is buzzing with excitement about the event. It's South Africa's first big test and no effort is being spared to make it a success.