Morocco

Outbreaks of hooliganism by English and German fans in France should not affect those nations' bids to stage the 2006 World Cup finals, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said.

Nigeria withdrew their bid to host the World Cup Finals in 2006 to help South Africa win the right to stage the tournament, Nigerian sports minister Emeka Omeruah.

The trial of four Germans accused of beating a French policeman almost to death at last year's World Cup finals will not affect Germany's bid to host the tournament in 2006, German Football Federation (DFB) President Egidius Braun has said.

The Japanese Football Association (JFA) has invited FIFA president Sepp Blatter to Tokyo to discuss next year's Confederations Cup following an apology from world soccer's governing body over its proposal for the tournament.

FIFA, world soccer?s governing body, appears to be back-tracking over a confidential report which ranked England's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup below that of rivals Germany and South Africa.

South Africa's quest to host the World Cup 2006 has been endorsed by the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Executive, adding an important component to the South Africa 2006 bid.

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.

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.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said that he expected England to present a strong, professional bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals - although Africa was still the logical choice to stage the tournament.

South African soccer officials have reacted with delight to Nigeria's decision to withdraw their bid to host the World Cup finals in 2006 and instead support the South African bid.

South African soccer officials, confident of the quality of their bid, have revealed why they think they should host the 2006 World Cup.

Moroccan officials said they felt betrayed on Thursday after falling out in the first round of voting to stage the 2006 World Cup ? and then faced further humiliation when their support for South Africa failed to bring the tournament to the continent.

Alec McGivan, the director of England's campaign to stage the 2006 World Cup, has questioned the motives behind UEFA's threat to expel England from Euro 2000 following incidents of hooliganism.

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 chief executive officer of South Africa's bid committee for the 2006 Soccer World Cup has told the South African Cabinet that he is extremly confident the country will be awarded the event, the Pan African News Agency reports.

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.