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South Africa squad in dispute with FA ahead of World Cup

South Africa squad in dispute with FA ahead of World Cup

SOUTH Africa's Women's World Cup preparations were plunged into chaos when a shadow national team including a 13-year-old took on Botswana in a friendly as the squad selected for the finals were locked in a dispute with the national association. The match was supposed to be a send-off for the squad going to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand before they continue their preparations outside the country. But a dispute with the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) over bonus payments and their contracts for the tournament meant the World Cup-bound squad did not play. Instead, a hastily put…
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Pelé: a global superstar and cultural icon who put passion at the heart of soccer

Pelé: a global superstar and cultural icon who put passion at the heart of soccer

PELÉ, soccer’s first global superstar, has died at the age of 82. To many fans, the Brazilian will be remembered as the best to have ever played the game. For others it goes further: He was the symbol of soccer played with passion, gusto and a smile. Indeed, he helped to forge an image of the game, which even today lots of people continue to crave. Author SIMON CHADWICK, Professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy, SKEMA Business School Pelé wasn’t just a great player and a wonderful ambassador for the world’s favourite game; he was a cultural icon. Indeed, he…
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Soccer Qatar’s Bedouin roots star in World Cup opening ceremony

Soccer Qatar’s Bedouin roots star in World Cup opening ceremony

ANDREW MILLS QATAR'S Bedouin roots, embodied in a tent-shaped stadium, were on display as the country's emir opened the World Cup at a ceremony during which he kissed his father's hand and welcomed the world to soccer's biggest event, the first time it has been staged in the Middle East. "From Qatar, from the Arab world, I welcome everyone to the World Cup 2022," Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said. "How lovely it is that people can put aside what divides them to celebrate their diversity and what brings them together." Then, fireworks exploded from the roof of Al Bayt stadium,…
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Mane living the dream of millions of Africans

Mane living the dream of millions of Africans

MARK GLEESON SADIO Mane is the embodiment of the dreams of millions of young Africans, emerging from a small village in Senegal to play at the highest level in Europe and become an international icon. The diminutive attacker defied his family, who did not want him to play soccer, to sneak away from his home village of Bambali to join an academy in the capital Dakar and then catapult his way into club football. He has gone on to help his country to successive World Cup tournaments, win a first Africa Cup of Nations title and, at club level with…
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Portaloos and home security: Qatar braces for World Cup influx

Portaloos and home security: Qatar braces for World Cup influx

ANDREW MILLS A gleaming white World Cup stadium looms large at the end of the street in the quiet suburban neighbourhood of Al Thumama. In three weeks, tens of thousands of soccer fans will file past the tidy villas, mosques and shops that line the route to the stadium due to host eight matches during the tournament. On Tuesday, the quarter was bracing itself for the November 20 kickoff of the World Cup: crowd control barriers on sidewalks, portable toilets beside houses and heightened home security. "We have to be careful. We have to secure our houses...all year we leave…
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Messi names France and Brazil as favourites to win World Cup

Messi names France and Brazil as favourites to win World Cup

ARGENTINA captain Lionel Messi has said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who have played together for a long time. Messi said Brazil, Germany, France, England and Spain are always labelled favourites to win but the 35-year-old forward feels France and Brazil are the best two teams going into the November 20 - December 18 tournament. "We always say the same great teams ... but, if I have to choose, Brazil and France are the two great candidates to win the World Cup,"…
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Morocco vs South Africa as women’s football enters a new era

Morocco vs South Africa as women’s football enters a new era

THIS weekend’s Women’s African Football Championship (Wafcon) final between Morocco and South Africa in Morocco marks a new era. With it, women’s football in Africa has reached a second phase of its development. If the first phase was about the rise of a few superpowers, led by Nigeria, then the new phase is about a spread of teams rising to the top as development of the game takes hold on the continent. Author CHUKA ONWUMECHILI, Professor of Communications, Howard University Wafcon is the women’s Afcon, the biggest national tournament on the continent, held every two years. The championship final is…
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Superstars Sadio Mané and Mo Salah eclipse African football at home

Superstars Sadio Mané and Mo Salah eclipse African football at home

SENEGAL’S Sadio Mané and Egypt’s Mo Salah are among 10 players nominated for the African Footballer of the Year prize at this year’s Caf Awards held by the Confederation of African Football in Rabat, Morocco. Both players rose to global prominence playing for Liverpool in the English Premier League, propelling the club to three champions league finals and winning a title. Both have won Caf player of the year before, Salah twice in 2017 and 2018, and Mané once in 2019. Now Mané is poised to even the score at 2-2. Star forwards, their pursuits on the field are the…
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Massive quarter-finals await at WAFCON 2022 with World Cup spots up for grabs

Massive quarter-finals await at WAFCON 2022 with World Cup spots up for grabs

The group stages are done and dusted. Eight teams have progressed to the quarter-finals of the 2022 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, as we reach the business end of the tournament. 3️⃣ 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒, 3️⃣ 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 ✅#TeamMorocco and #TeamSouthAfrica have won all of their #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 games so far! 🧤Many more to come? 🤔#EmpoweringOurGame | @Banyana_Banyana | @EnMaroc pic.twitter.com/J85IleBYGE— #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 (@CAFwomen) July 11, 2022 Morocco vs Botswana The hosts have been perfect in the tournament so far, grinding their way through their Group A matches and amassing nine points, scoring five goals and conceding just once, to top the…
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Football: “Impractical” 91-1and 95-0 scores probed

Football: “Impractical” 91-1and 95-0 scores probed

The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has launched an investigation into two first division matches that finished with scorelines of 91-1 and 95-0, describing them as impractical results. The West African country's soccer governing body said it was investigating officials and players who were involved in the two fixtures, in which Gulf FC defeated Koquima Lebanon 91-1 and Lumbenbu United were beaten 95-0 by Kahula Rangers. The SLFA said it had zero tolerance for match manipulation or anything of the sort. "The general public is therefore assured that the said matter will be thoroughly investigated and anyone found culpable will…
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