Goleo VI, commonly known as Goleo, and Pille, were the official mascots for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Goleo takes the form of a lion, and is never found far from his sidekick, Pille, a talking football.
Goleo is clad in a white football shirt with black collar and sleeve rims, similar to those worn by the Germany national team between the 1950s and 1970s, and is trouserless. He wears a uniform with the number 06 (short for 2006, the World Cup year he was the mascot), and has his name written above it on the back of his shirt. The Goleo costume was manufactured by The Jim Henson Company, at a cost of around €250,000. The word Pille, meaning "pill" in standard German, is otherwise a common German sports jargon for a football.[citation needed] Goleo was unveiled as the World Cup mascot on November 13, 2004, during the German television program Wetten, dass..?, presented by Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer.
On May 16, 2006, the German licence holder to produce Goleo, Bavarian toy company NICI, filed for bankruptcy. One apparent reason could be very high licence fees of around €28 million.[1][2] Other sources, however, quote much lower licence fees of €3.5 million.[3]
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- ^ Nici-Chef: Verdacht des schweren Betrugs | Fußball WM 2006 | Bayern 3 | BR[permanent dead link]