Africa’s traditional powerhouses are on the verge of elimination from next year’s World Cup soccer championships and some are even in danger of missing out on the African Nations Cup set for the end of January. There are two rounds left in the qualifiers and none of the continent’s 2002 World Cup contestants
Soccer’s world governing body Fifa has lost its lawsuit against sportswear company Puma, which manufactured the catsuit — a one piece jersey and shorts suit — worn by the Cameroon national team during the 2004 African Nations Cup. A German court ruled on Wednesday that the catsuit did not violate football’s rules on playing apparel.
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/ 13 February 2004
It is not Women’s Day, nor am I trying to curry any favour with the new editor of the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> who is female, but recognition should go where it is due this week. Women’s sport has been performing wonders so far.
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/ 15 January 2004
Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba was fired in an unusual fashion this week soon after being suspended for seven days — telephonically. There is now definitely no hope of South Africa winning the Nations Cup, firstly due to the ill-preparedness of the team physically and mentally. Only time will tell now how badly this soccer saga affected the players.
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/ 30 December 2003
The South African Castle Premiership has drawn to the the end of the first half of the season and there are still no clear contenders or pretenders to the league title. But look elsewhere in Europe and you can already predict who is going to win. In England, it is between Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. In Italy, Juventus or AC Milan, while in Spain it is between Real Madrid and Deportiva La Coruna.
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/ 28 November 2003
For the South African national soccer coaches, it does not rain but pours. This rings true when it comes to club versus country selections. What Bafana Bafana’s Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba has endured in trying to get a team to play in next year’s Nations Cup in Tunisia is what his under-23 coach, Kenneth "Conti" Khubeka, is expected to go through next week.
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/ 15 November 2003
The South African national coach’s final preparations before the Nations Cup next year in Tunisia have been dealt a heavy blow. Bafana Bafana were handed their first ever defeat under Mashaba on Saturday against Egypt before succumbing to the hosts of the Nations Cup Tunisia on Wednesday.
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/ 6 November 2003
The days are rushing past, and so are the minutes and seconds before Bafana Bafana national coach Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba is set to announce his final 22 players for the Nations Cup in Tunisia in January next year. But will he have enough time to make them gel to take on the Nigerians, Morocco and Benin?
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/ 26 September 2003
South African soccer lovers — and the 16 Premier Soccer League club owners — are rubbing their hands in anticipation of some fine football and enormous rewards when the Coca-Cola Cup kicks off again this season. The winners walk away with a cool R2-million.
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/ 11 September 2003
The choice of venues is one of the most important things in bidding to host such a big tournament as the World Cup — and South Africa has top stadiums in abundance.
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/ 11 September 2003
South Africa’s efforts to host the World Cup take a big step forward with the presentation this month of the "bid book". The reason for such optimism is the amount of work already done by the 2010 bid company. The organisers are now at a crucial phase — that of preparing to present the all-important "bid book" on September 30 to Fifa’s voting members. The bid book has 18 chapters and 1 000 pages.
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/ 11 September 2003
The South African Football Association (Safa) is hoping it will be in charge of hosting the 2010 World Cup in Africa and has mandated the 2010 bid company, led by CEO Danny Jordaan and chairman Irvin Khoza, to clinch the rights.
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/ 11 September 2003
The South African 2010 bid company has obtained sponsorship to the tune of R80-million to support its efforts to secure the World Cup. SABMiller is excited by this adventure and is aiding the organisers with a sponsorship of R12-million.
In his now famous interview with Irish radical Helena Sheehan, senior communist and African National Congress member Jeremy Cronin remarks that "the worst elements" in the ANC were "unleashed" on the left after last year’s anti-privatisation strike. That this is happening again confirms his complaint.