Harare — IF football was an epidemic, we would all be catching the bug right now, what with all this exposure!

As excitement about Zimbabwe hosting the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup tournament reaches fever pitch, along comes news that a new strain of the soccer bug is already being spread by the Coca-Cola Company, and sanctioned by international football body Fifa.

It is not often that we welcome viruses.

And it is not often that private sector businesses deliberately and actively take part in spreading them.

But this is the World Cup bug, dear fellow soccer fan, and we all want a part of it.

So when news reaches us that the Fifa World Cup Trophy is on its way here, it is cause for some excitement.

Already, the trophy has passed through 25 of our continent's 52 countries and lands in Zimbabwe only four weeks from today.

The Fifa World Cup trophy -- the world's most coveted sports icon and symbol of football supremacy -- began its tour from Egypt and it will only be less than a month before fans in Zimbabwe can see it up close.

Sponsored by Coca-Cola, the Fifa World Cup trophy tour is due to arrive in Zimbabwe on Thursday, November 26, as part of its tour of every African nation.

Fans will get a chance to get a rare up-close view of the authentic trophy -- all 18 carats of its golden magnificence.

Tickets to the trophy tour will be made available to consumers via Coca-Cola promotions.

Fans will also have the opportunity to have a souvenir photo taken with the trophy, participate in interactive displays and enjoy other entertainment.

The promotions have already started and some quick-on-the-ball fans are assured of tickets after successfully participating in phone-in radio shows that kicked off last Monday.

Currently in West Africa (it may have passed Nigeria and Cameroon by the time you read this), the trophy initially touched down in Cairo, Egypt, after the official kick-off by Fifa and Coca-Cola officials from Zurich, Switzerland, on September 21.

It will be on a 70-day tour of 52 African nations.

The tour has been developed through an exclusive partnership between Fifa and Coca-Cola, one of the organisation's longest-standing corporate partners.

On December 3, the first leg of the tour draws to a close in Cape Town, South Africa, near the time of the 2010 Fifa World Cup finals draw.

The second leg of the Fifa World Cup trophy tour by Coca-Cola will see the trophy visit additional countries across the globe from January to April 2010.

The 2010 Fifa World Cup trophy which is 36,8 cm high, weighs 6,175 grams and is made of solid, 18-carat gold, draws on the huge success of the first global trophy tour held in 2006 in which the tour visited 31 cities in 29 countries.

The winners retain it until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica.

The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite, while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each Fifa World Cup winner since 1974.

The Coca-Cola Company is one of the longest-standing corporate partners of Fifa, with a formal association since 1974 and an official sponsorship of the Fifa World Cup that began in 1978.

Coca-Cola has had stadium advertising at every Fifa World Cup since 1950.

As a Fifa partner for non-alcoholic beverages the Coca-Cola Company enjoys core sponsorship rights to all Fifa competitions.

The trophy tour through Zimbabwe follows major sporting activities in which Coca-Cola has been involved in the country as a build-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, including grassroots Copa Coca-Cola football tournaments.