OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 1.30pm. THE annual African club championships kicked off this weekend in the shadow of the Nations Cup with several surprises in preliminary-round matches. Tusker of Kenya needed a late goal from George Maina to draw 1-1 in Nairobi with Red Sea of Eritrea, who moved ahead 16 minutes into the […]

THE Nigeria Football Association has paid a $3000 bonus to each player for the 4-2 victory over Tunisia in the African Nations Cup, ending a major row, a team official said Sunday. The NFA held an emergency meeting in Lagos Saturday with the perennial problem of team bonuses one of the matters discussed, officials said. […]

FIFA chief Sepp Blatter repeated his support on Sunday for African bids to stage the 2006 World Cup. “I said we needed more solidarity and if one of the bids gives all guarantees, it is only logical that we should go round the globe,” said Blatter, who supported African bids last week at the African […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 3.45pm. A REPORT on the state of South African soccer compiled by the sport’s administrators was presented to government on Monday following an ultimatum issued last year to soccer administrators to clean up their act. Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour met in Cape Town with South African Football Association chief […]

NIGERIA and Morocco will both be without suspended key defenders when they meet in the African Nations Cup on Thursday. Moroccan captain and centre-back Nourredine Naybet and Nigerian defender Furo Iyenemi were booked in both the first two series of matches and are automatically suspended for one game. Nigeria lead Morocco in group D on […]

GENERAL Robert Guei, who seized power in Côte d’Ivoire on December 24, has reimbursed 28-million euros in EU funds “misappropriated” by the regime of the elected president he overthrew, an EU source said on Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU cooperation and development ministers, the source said the “entirety” of […]

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for a worldwide annual soccer break in December. “It is vital that soccer should stop for a month”, Blatter said on Sunday. Speaking on French television, the FIFA chief said the sport’s world governing body would present its plan in March for a new, harmonised soccer calendar which could […]

A SENIOR Justice Department official arrested in Mpumalanga this week for allegedly trying to issue 14 fraudulent licences was denied bail on Friday after being charged with fraud and corruption. All 14 of Charles Langa’s co-accused and alleged clients were, however, released on bail when the case was transferred from the Mdutjana to the Middelburg […]

AFRICAN Nations Cup co-hosts, Nigeria, have doubled the prices of tickets for their national side’s remaining matches in the competition. A statement from the Nigerian organisers on Sunday said the cheapest seats will now cost 200 naira ($2), while the most expensive will cost 2000 naira ($20). “This is not to discourage the fans from […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Monday 1.20pm. VETERAN Zambian star Kalusha Bwalya will finally bid farewell to the African Nations Cup unless his team defeat Senegal on Tuesday in a Group C match. Surprise packets Senegal enter the last-round showdown with a two-point advantage over their opponents and a draw will take them into the knockout […]