FIFA 09

Bruce Grannec from France won the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 Grand Final in Barcelona and thus became the FIFA Interactive World Champion 2009. The world’s 32 best virtual footballers came face to face on May 2nd at Port Olympic in Barcelona, Spain to compete in the Grand Final as another incredibly exciting virtual football season came to an end.

Following a day of extreme skill and tactics on EA SPORTS™ FIFA09 on PLAYSTATION®3, Bruce Grannec beat the charismatic Mexican Ruben Zerecero 3:1 in a typically enthralling final in front of a packed crowd next to the beach at Port Olympic. In addition to being crowned FIWC09 Champion, the 22 year old Frenchman also received USD 20,000 and an all new KIA Soul car. He will also receive his FIFA Diploma at the next FIFA World Player Gala, where he will rub shoulders with the best real-life footballers in the world. "I am very proud of this victory", said a delighted Bruce Grannec after the final he deservedly won. "It pays back hours and hours of practice which prepared me to compete on such a big stage. It proves that, if you work hard, you will have success."

"FIFA recognises the best in football, today we are recognising the best virtual football players", said FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer. "I was pleased to see the passion and the outstanding technical skills shown by the 32 competitors, who made their way to the final out of an incredible number of more than 500.000 online participants. The sun, the side events and the beautiful location made this Grand Final a fantastic FIFA football event."

The Grand Final provided players with the opportunity to perform on the biggest stage of their lives in front of 8,000 spectators, who enjoyed the entertainment that the world’s largest football gaming tournament provides.

"Congratulations to Bruce who managed to become the FIWC 09 World Champion out of over 500,000 qualifiers which is an amazing achievement," said Matt Bilbey, Vice President International Marketing, EA SPORTS. "With the fantastic increase in the number of participants, the FIWC 09 was a great success for everybody involved. We’re looking forward to expanding the tournament in the upcoming years, especially with the FIFA World Cup 2010 happening next year in South Africa."

"The finals in Barcelona have been a fitting finale, for what has been a truly remarkable competition", said Darren Carter, Vice President Consumer Marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "We offer our warmest congratulations to this year’s winner Bruce Grannec, who by coming out on top over half a million competitors, showed great skill and an unbreakable determination along the way. These are the characteristics that make the FIFA Interactive World Cup so special and we look forward to continuing our association with this wonderful competition next year."

Other entertainment on display included an exclusive performance by football trickster John Farnworth and a demonstration of komball (a freestyle football show), while spectators were also able to take part in the mini beach soccer tournament that was being run by Spain’s beach soccer star and FIFA Beach Soccer World Player 2008 Ramiro Amarelle. The gaming and entertainment lounges remained busy throughout the day as the public enjoyed experiencing EA SPORTS’s latest gaming titles and PlayStation’s latest next-generation entertainment products.

After seven months of qualification with over 500,000 players having competed in the online qualification and with 19 live qualifier events having been held at locations around the globe, including New Zealand, South Africa, Denmark, Brazil and India, the Grand Final marked the end of the fifth and most successful FIFA Interactive World Cup to date.

For more information on the FIFA Interactive World Cup, including a list of the 32 finalists, please go to www.FIFA.com/fiwc

Footage and images of the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final can be found on the FIFA Media Channel http://mediachannel.extranets.fifa.com/regproc.aspx

To request the Official Emblem of the FIFA Interactive World Cup please fill out the marks request form for media on www.FIFAdigitalarchive.com

Further information from:

FIFA Media Department: tel.: +41-43/222 7272 or e-mail: media@fifa.org

FIFA COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION / Zurich, 2 May 2009 / 2009-045-FIWC-GrandFinal-E.doc

Electronic Arts: Maik Matischak ( mmatischak@ea.com), tel.: +41 22 316 1317

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd – Nick Caplin ( nick_caplin@scee.net); tel.: + 44 207 859 5301(5349)

About FIFA

For more than 100 years, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris and better known as FIFA, has continued to provide the essential leadership role to the international football family. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the eighth FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter (Switzerland), guides the organisation today with a commitment to the evolution of FIFA as a modern and dynamic association.

The basis of the world’s football family is formed by FIFA’s members. From the founding seven, the family has today grown to 208 affiliated football associations, also organised into six confederations spanning the globe. FIFA’s worldwide activities go well beyond its various competitions, such as the world’s biggest single-sport event, the FIFA World Cup™. In projects such as the Football for Hope movement (incl. SOS Children Villages, UNICEF and street football world) and the FIFA GOAL Programme- just to name a few of its development and charity activities - FIFA gives material, financial and promotional support to develop the game and bring joy to underprivileged worldwide. To stay updated on FIFA’s events including the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup™, please click on www.FIFA.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS Freestyle TM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PLAYSTATION®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PLAYSTATION 3 in November 2006, over 21.3 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 136.3 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 50 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 20 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 380 million items have been downloaded.

More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com or visit the Virtual Press Office at www.scee.presscentre.com.

PlayStation, PLAYSTATION and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.