Africa

Former Germany striker Rudi Voeller has been appointed ambassador of the German bid to host soccer's 2006 World Cup.

Nigeria's sports ministry has set up a committee to mobilise "financial and moral support" for its national soccer team in a bid to win the 2000 African Cup of Nations.

Morocco has started work on a $100 million stadium to boost its bid to host the soccer World Cup finals in 2006, a government official has said.

The Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Tony Blair and film star Hugh Grant will lead attempts to impress international soccer chiefs who will inspect England's World Cup 2006 facilities this week.

A six-man delegation from soccer's world governing body FIFA rounded off a five-day visit to Germany full of praise for the country's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair threw open his Downing Street doors to a delegation from world soccer's governing body FIFA yesterday, hoping to convince them to back England's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Movie star Hugh Grant and former England star Gary Lineker were among the star names at a special send-off to the FIFA team inspecting England's chances of hosting the 2006 World Cup.

South Africa's 2006 World Cup bid committee will concentrate on the "nuts and bolts" of staging the event in its campaign rather than an emotional appeal for Africa.

Soccer legend Pele has confirmed his support for South Africa's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, saying he thought Brazil could be ready to stage the finals four years later.

Morocco's 2006 World Cup campaign boss said during a lobbying visit to Nigeria that Africa should make only a single bid to host the tournament.Morocco and South Africa are among five nations bidding to host the 2006 finals along with Brazil, England and Germany."FIFA may find it easier to reject Africa's bid if both Morocco and South Africa insist on presenting their bids, citing lack of unity," Driss Benhima, head of the Morocco 2006 bid committee, told reporters.Benhima said the Confederation of African Football had to evolve a fair method of choosing either Morocco or South Africa. CAF are due to discuss the issue at their next Congress in Accra, Ghana in February.

Germany's campaign to host the 2006 Soccer World Cup moved to Central Africa this week when German soccer legend and bid leader Franz Beckenbauer arrived in Cameroon to drum up support.

Former World Cup hero, Sir Bobby Charlton, championing England's campaign to host the 2006 World Cup, has appealed to Africans to support England if two bids from their own continent are unsuccessful.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has repeated that he felt the the World Cup finals in 2006 should go to Africa.

Co-hosts Nigeria have doubled the prices of tickets for the remanining matches of their national team in the African Nations Cup.

Over 200,000 fake merchandising items were seized by French authorities before the World Cup and thousands were still on sale around the stadiums during Wednesday's first two matches, a government official said on Thursday.

Hundreds of youths went on the rampage at a detention centre in northeast Thailand in the early hours of Wednesday after officials prevented them from watching a World Cup soccer match on television, police said.