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News Tip: Soccer Expert Available to Discuss Dec. 4 World Cup Draw

Laurent Dubois, a romance studies and history professor at Duke University in the United States, is available to comment on the politics and other ramifications related to the World Cup finals draw Dec. 4.

Dubois recently completed a book, "Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France," to be published in March 2010, that tells the story of the French team and the political and sporting controversies that have surrounded it in recent years.

"About 400 million people -- more than watch the Super Bowl each year -- will likely tune in for the draw on Dec. 4," said Dubois, who is teaching a course this fall at Duke titled "World Cup and World Politics."

"With the controversy ongoing over Thierry Henry's hand ball in overtime that put France into the World Cup instead of Ireland, you can expect the draw to generate the next flood of commentary, this time about particularly charged match-ups and the chances of various teams."

Dubois also has organized a series of films about the politics surrounding the soccer industry (more at www.soccerpolitics.com or www.duke.edu/today/archive/oncamera.php?id=27073), and edits a blog called "Soccer Politics" that draws together students and scholars to comment on news and controversies in the sport (http://blogs-dev.oit.duke.edu/wcwp/).