MUMBAI: In keeping with the soccer fever with the Fifa World Cup just days away, DHL is all set to launch an international soccer tournament in Germany from 16 to 19 June.

This tournament, organized by Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN), DHL's parent company, will be held in Bispinger Heide, near Hamburg, Germany. It will consist of 2,500 DPWN staff and 24 teams from around the world - all competing to be crowned as DPWN World Champions.

DPWN has operations in more than 220 countries and territories and the tournament will feature teams from regions from around the globe. The 24 final-round teams are from Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific, emerging market countries, as well as host country Germany.

Employees ranging from board members to couriers were selected from all DHL business units - Express, Global Forwarding, Exel Supply Chain and Global Mail.

The primary goal of this event is to make an emotional contribution to strengthening the feeling of unity within the group. "We strongly believe that the most prized asset in our organisation is our employees. This event is an excellent opportunity to bring our people together in the spirit of camaraderie and teamwork - a key element of DHL's success stories worldwide," said DHL Express - Asia Pacific CEO Scott Price.

"This is also an excellent opportunity for our representatives in different countries to get to know each other better, fostering goodwill through an exciting tournament," he added.

Besides the five football squads who will be participating from Asia Pacific, there will also be five cheerleading teams from this region who will conduct their own competition parallel to the soccer tournament.

FIFA Organising Committee president Franz Beckenbauer will have a special message for participants at the opening ceremony of the competition. The kick-off event will be moderated by René Hiepen, a sports reporter with Germany's public ZDF television network and member of the ZDF team of moderators for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Highlights of the program include the live appearance of Elli, winner of the TV show Germany Seeks a Superstar and the voice of the current DPWN group song, as well as "Band on the Run," a brass band made up of DHL Norway employees, and soccer artist "Jacek," a DHL staff with mesmerizing ball skills. Long-time FIFA referee Walter Eschweiler will officiate at the group championship game on 18 June.