SOCCER: Lungile Madywabe
THE South African team, which assembles on Monday in preparation for=20 the Africa Nations Cup finals which take place in South Africa from=20 January 13 to February 3 next year, know that they have a momentous task=20 ahead of them. This week they were drawn in a group with Cameroon, Egypt and Angola=20 at a glittering ceremony at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. =D2I hope the whole country gets behind us as they did with rugby, and=20 hopefully we will go all the way to the finals against Ghana=D3 said confid=
coach Clive Barker. The draw, which was described by Barker as =D2fantastic=D3, was made by=20 Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Issa Hayatou, Sports=20 and Recreation Minister Steve Tshwete, South African Football=20 Association (Safa) president Solomon =D2Stix=D3 Morewa and Miss South=20 Africa Bernelee Daniell. Hayatou is part of the Caf delegation that arrived here on Monday to make,=
amongst other things, the final inspection of the four venues for the fina=
At a press briefing this week, the delegation, that includes Caf=20 representative Ismael Bhamjee and general secretary Mustafa Fahmy,=20 announced that all the countries which pulled out of the Cup of Nations=20 competition will, in addition to a fine of $5 000, be suspended from=20 participation in the next tournament.=20 These decisions were taken at the Caf executive meeting in Botswana last=20 week. =D2These measures were part of an effort to strengthen the competitio=
and to ensure that fixtures are not disrupted,=D2 said Fahmy. Seven out of 40 countries pulled out of the competition citing financial=20 reasons, making it easier for some of the other countries to qualify for th=
1996 finals. Fahmy said the current rules were not strong enough to=20 dissuade contries from withdrawing from the competion. The names of the sponsors were also announced, revealing a lamentable=20 situation as they are all international companies, but Morewa was quick to=
point out that Safa was busy negotiating with local suppliers and he is=20 hopeful that they will clinch a deal soon. Caf also announced that the ban on liquor and tobacco companies as=20 sponsors of national teams has been lifted, arguing that football has over=
the years become very commercialised. =D2All the countries in the world are=
sponsored by these products,=D3 said Bhamjee. It was also announced that 104 courses will be made available to all Caf=20 affiliates in 1997, to facilitate the smooth flowing of the game in Africa.=
These include coaching, refereeing, physiotherapy and administration. The=
programme will cost $1-million The groups for the finals are: Group A (Johannesburg): South Africa, Egypt, Cameroon, Angola Group B (Bloemfontein): Zambia, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso Group C (Durban): Nigeria, Zaire, Gabon and Nigeri Group D (Port Elizabeth): Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia and Mozambique