Record audience for the official FRANCE 98 Internet site

Since coming on line, on the 6^th May 1997, the official World Cup web-site has been an undeniable success. A success that has grown even further since the competition kicked off of the on the 10^th June.

During the first days of FRANCE 98, from the 10^th to the 22^th June, the site registered over 450 million hits. Of these, 59 million came on one day, the 15^th June, beating the previous record of 56 million hits in one day, held by the official Winter Olympic Games site for Nagano!

To date, a total of 10 million net-surfers from 170 different countries have connected to www.france98.com. A success which confirms, if that were necessary, the global dimension of the World Cup, but is also explained by the frequent updating of the site, which has evolved constantly since going on-line. "We are continuing to develop the site every day, offering more and more information to our visitors, which is what they expect," stressed Charles-Henry Contamine, the WebMaster of FRANCE 98, who confirmed that "right up to the end of the World Cup, the site will continue to break new ground as the matches and the festivities take place."

A team of eleven people ensure that the site is constantly updated. They are supported by specialist reporters and volunteers from the French Organising Committees Information Bureau, who are in close touch with everything that happens "in the field" at all the World Cup venues.

Of course www.france98.com offers match results in real time and all the other news concerning the football : match reports, statements and analysis from players and coaches, photos and sound clips of what is happening in the grounds. More than this though, the site has also chosen to be at the heart of the celebrations which touch the whole nation. In this way, fans thousands of kilometres from France can share the atmosphere surrounding the World Cup.

Detailed statistics on every one of the 32 competing teams as well as a biography of each of the 704 players are also available in two languages (English and French) on www.france98.com

Also proving very popular are the screen-savers that visitors can download, not forgetting the on-line boutique which has already enabled thousands of people from 39 different countries to buy official products and souvenirs of FRANCE 98.

The technological architecture of the official web-site of the World Cup is impressive four mirror sites (3 in North America and 1 in Europe) linked to a total of around 30 servers.

Putting the site in place is the result of close co-operation between the Four Official technology suppliers to FRANCE 98, who have pooled their know-how to meet this challenge. The four are: EDS, Official Suppliers of Information Technology; Hewlett Packard, Official Suppliers of Computer Equipment; Sybase, Official Software Suppliers; and France Telecom, Official Telecommunications Supplier.