The Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ took place in Rio de Janeiro's Marina da Glória on Saturday 30 July, thereby signaling the true kick-off of the tournament. The Preliminary Draw determined which national teams will play which in the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™; a record total of 203 teams are expected to take part in the qualifiers, which are currently set to extend over 824 matches and more than two years.

The Draw was a massive undertaking, involving over 1500 people working onsite at the Marina da Glória, and featured former and current stars of Brazilian football such as 1994 FIFA World Cup™ hero Bebeto, former Brazil coach Mario Zagallo and young phenoms Ganso and Neymar, as well as local entertainers including Ivete Sangalo and Ivan Lins; the presenters were Fernanda Lima and Tadeu Schmidt. The show began at 15:00 local time (19:00 GMT) and lasted just under two hours.

After delivering 25 matches, on behalf of FIFA and Sony, in 3D at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, HBS will be in Wimbledon this season with its long-standing partners Sony and Can Communicate to partake in the 3D delivery of this flagship Tennis event.

Mexico, Germany, Colombia. HBS crews are hard at work again, on behalf of FIFA, in three locations spread across the globe.

HBS France Production, the production arm of the HBS Group of companies in charge of delivering the French L1 & L2 matches on behalf of the Ligue de Football Professionnel, has signed off successfully yet another year of television coverage and the provision of the ever-popular mobile feed to the full satisfaction of its customer, the LFP, its broadcasters Canal +, Orange and the ever increasing number of International Rights-Holders. Plus, of course, the French Clubs being provided with more and more web-services.

Newsletters - 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™