Volunteers for the World Cup take oath at Hongkou Stadium yesterday. A total of 650 volunteers were chosen from 7,500 people while 200 Hongkou District residents will perform as cheerleaders.-Shanghai Daily

Shanghai is fully prepared for the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup 2007, which will kick off at Hongkou Stadium on Monday, the Shanghai organization committee announced yesterday.

Venues for the sporting event have passed checks by FIFA. The main venue, Hongkou Football Stadium, has undergone a comprehensive renovation pertaining to the turf, screens, auditorium and parking lots since last November.

"The officials from FIFA conducted inspections on the stadium last month and were satisfied by the renovations, which were completed by the end of June," said Yu Chen, deputy director of the committee and chief of the Shanghai Sports Administration.

The renovations of the training venues, including the Pudong Yuanshen Sports Center and some university stadiums, have also been finished, Yu revealed.

Shanghai will stage eight games, including the final. The rest of the matches will be held in Wuhan (Hubei Province), Tianjin City, Chengdu (Sichuan Province) and Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province).

The opening ceremony will also be held at Hongkou Stadium on Monday. A total of 1,800 people will join in the performance, among whom 1,600 will be women.

"Visitors will see many soccer balls and roses during the ceremony, which reflects the combination of strength and beauty," said Teng Junjie, organizer of the opening ceremony.

After the approximately 30-minute ceremony, Germany will kick off the tournament against Argentina at 8pm.

So far, teams from the United States, England, Germany, Argentina and Denmark have arrived in Shanghai, and more than 100 officials from FIFA have also reached. A total of 630 volunteers, picked from 7,500 applicants, will be on hand during the tournament, which will end on September 30.

Ticket sales have also been pretty brisk in recent days, the committee suggested.