Africa

The head of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) has appealed to world football's governing body to let Africa host the 2006 World Cup.

The British government has dismissed a report that England might team up with Germany in a bid to host soccer's 2006 World Cup rather than press its own case.

Countries bidding for the 2006 soccer World Cup are beginning the countdown to decision day ? exactly 100 days away.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter spent the weekend in Morocco for a visit to discuss the country's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Germany need to give their all in the closing stages of the race to hold the 2006 soccer World Cup finals, German bid chief Franz Beckenbauer said.

South Africa has invited African soccer greats Abedi Pele of Ghana and Cameroon's Roger Milla to be ambassadors for their 2006 World Cup bid.

FIFA's technical inspection team has given South Africa's bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals an unequivocal thumbs-up on Tuesday after a five-day tour to check the country's readiness.

South Africa wants the 2006 soccer World Cup, deserves it and is more than ready to make it work, the country's newspapers declared on Thursday as a crucial FIFA inspection got underway in Johannesburg.

Danny Jordaan made a powerful appeal to FIFA's executive committee to end the cycle of European domination of world soccer by handing South Africa the 2006 World Cup finals.

A FIFA inspection team has arrived in Morocco for a five-day visit, saying the country's bid file to host the 2006 World Cup was outstanding.

A Moroccan official said he was surprised by the results of a poll of sports editors showing the country was bottom of the list of the five bidding to host the 2006 World Cup finals.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will support one of Africa's two bids for the 2006 World Cup finals after FIFA inspection visits to Morocco and South Africa.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has given Brazil a timely boost in the race to host the 2006 World Cup.

South African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour has said his country would "comfortably earn" the right to stage the 2006 World Cup finals.

Morocco, which reaffirmed its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup finals this week by dismissing South African calls to quit the race, has despatched a delegation to Paraguay to lobby for South America's support.

Morocco, in a move to reaffirm its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, says it has no plans to withdraw from the competition to host the finals, an official statement said.