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/ 15 February 2008

Molefe whistles up a storm

Bafana Bafana might have failed to make it past the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament in Ghana, but Enock Molefe, the assistant referee in the Afcon final between Egypt and Cameroon last Sunday, flew the South African flag high with his unimpeachable calls to the very last minute of the match.

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/ 15 February 2008

Black mark for racism reform

Another week, another chance to gauge how our fine governing bodies are combating racism, with everyone’s favourite test case still England’s 2004 friendly against Spain in Madrid. Yet what’s often overlooked is that it was world soccer governing body Fifa that imposed the paltry £44 750 fine on the Spanish FA for the racist chanting.

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/ 15 February 2008

Smith: IPL could be real boon to world game

The money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL) could boost cricket around the world but organisers had to ensure there was as little overlap with internationals as possible, said South Africa’s Graeme Smith. ”Scheduling is obviously going to be the key for the IPL,” the South African captain told reporters in Dhaka on Friday.

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/ 15 February 2008

Romney backs McCain for Republicans

John McCain’s hold on the Republican nomination tightened on Thursday when he received the unexpected endorsement of his previously bitter rival, Mitt Romney. With the party closing ranks ready for November’s presidential election, Romney put aside his political and personal differences to back McCain.

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/ 15 February 2008

Fifa opposes Premier League expansion abroad

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has opposed plans by the Premier League to play matches abroad and warned that the proposal could harm England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. ”This is abuse. The rich Premier League is trying to get richer and wants to expand the importance of that league,” Blatter told the BBC.

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/ 15 February 2008

Rice to visit Kenya on February 18 in peace drive

President George Bush, ahead of a trip to Africa, said on Thursday he asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to go to Kenya with a message that there must be a full return to democracy. Kenya’s feuding political parties adjourned talks for the weekend, dashing chief mediator Kofi Annan’s hopes to have a final political settlement this week.

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/ 15 February 2008

Super 14: The ins and outs

South African rugby will enjoy an auspicious season this year. We begin the year as the envy of the rugby-playing nations, champions of both the world and the Super 14. Even the internecine wrangling for power in the South African Rugby Union (Saru) has failed to dim that envy.

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/ 15 February 2008

Who will tame the tiger?

To the long list of people who would urge Norman Arendse rather to spend his considerable energies on saving the Bengal Tiger from a fate worse than the aphrodisiacs industry, add a frustrated woman. ”I’m so unpopular with my wife right now,” Arendse said this week in a brief aside from South African cricket’s affairs of state.

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/ 15 February 2008

The riddle of the sphinx

First things first: the best team won. Many, including myself, dismissed Egypt’s chances of defending their crown because of a ropey qualifying campaign and because they lost a number of important players from their 2006 squad. But the Pharaohs showed that their domestic league continues to cultivate quality footballers.