the rules of the newly founded sport and the tournament's schedule. Furthermore, the Brazilian team was also revealed to the press and engaged in interviews. The presence of Zico as part of the Brazilian squad, who made over 70 appearances for the Brazilian national association football team, gained considerable attention in the local press prior to the start of the championship. Zico revealed at the launch he accepted an invitation from his friend and Brazilian team captain, Júnior, to play at the event, despite claiming to be "out of shape" now aged 41, having retired from football a year earlier. Following the launch, official training for the World Championships began the next day on January 19 on pitches external to the beach arena, in front of Copacabana Palace, concluding with training sessions inside the arena on January 23. The draw to split the eight teams into Groups A and B was conducted on January 21 at the Rio Internacional Hotel. Brazil and Argentina were allocated as heads of the two respective groups, with the other six teams then drawn to accompany them. The Championships were part of the 1st Olympic Summer Festival (Festival Olímpico de Verão), taking place in the Copacabana beach arena with a capacity of 12,000. Entry to all games was free of charge for fans. In total, US$1 million (1.6 million in 2017) was invested into the organisation of the tournament, including payment for the players who participated. Teams There was no qualification process for the first Beach Soccer World Championships; nations were simply invited to play. However, such invites were not random – specific nations were summoned. Koch Tavares, the tournament organisers, decided that as the first World Cup of beach soccer, since the sport is a derivative of association football, it would be fitting for the six winners of the FIFA World Cup of football throughout history (as of 1995) to field a team in Rio (being hosts Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Uruguay, England and Germany) and as such the aforementioned nations were invited to play, all of which accepted the opportunity. To make up the numbers, the Netherlands and the United States, despite having never won a FIFA World Cup title, were also invited as "guests". Africa, Asia and Oceania were unrepresented. European Zone (4): North American Zone (1): South American Zone (2): Hosts: (South America) Group stage Group A Group B Knockout stage January