World Cups exhibition

Today, at 15.00 at Villa Niscemi, in view of the match for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Italy – Albania, scheduled at the Renzo Barbera stadium next Friday, there will be the inauguration of the World Cups exhibition which will , in Palermo to March 26, 2017.

The World Cup is a gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the Fifa association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, and the FIFA World Cup Trophy from 1974 to the present-day.

The first trophy, originally named Victory, but later renamed in honour of former Fifa president Jules Rimet, was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli and depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and never recovered.

The subsequent trophy, called the “FIFA World Cup Trophy”, was introduced in 1974. Made of 18 karat gold with a malachite base, it stands 36.8 centimeters high and weighs 6.1 kilograms. The trophy was made by Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni company in Italy. It depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The current holder of the trophy is Germany, winner of the 2014 World Cup.

A replacement trophy was commissioned by FIFA for the 1974 World Cup. Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga was awarded the commission. The trophy stands 36.5 centimetres (14.4 inches) tall and is made of 5 kg (11 lb) of 18 carat (75%) gold with a base (13 centimetres [5.1 inches] in diameter) containing two layers of malachite. If it were solid, the trophy would weigh 70–80 kg and would be too heavy to lift^. Produced by Bertoni, Milano in Paderno Dugnano, it weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb) in total and depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. Gazzaniga described the trophy thus, “The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory”.

The trophy has the engraving “FIFA World Cup” on its base. After the 1994 FIFA World Cup a plate was added to the bottom side of the trophy on which the names of winning countries are engraved, and are therefore not visible when the trophy is standing upright. As of 2014, ten winners have been engraved on the base. The plate is replaced and the winners of the trophy’s names are rearranged into a spiral to accommodate future winners, with Spain this time written in Spanish (España). FIFA’s regulations now state that the trophy, unlike its predecessor, cannot be won outright: the winners of the tournament receive a Bronze replica which is gold plated rather than solid gold. Germany was the first nation to win the new trophy for the third time in 2014

Germany– 1974, 1990, 2014