Nigeria

South Africa will present its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup to the African Soccer Confederation (CAF) executive in Cairo on Sunday, a South African diplomat said.

The African women championship final between hosts South Africa and Nigeria had to be abandoned in the second half after a riot broke out at the Vosloorus Stadium near Johannesburg.

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

A team from world soccer governing body FIFA has begun inspecting hotels in eight Nigerian cities to decide if they are good enough to be used at the World Youth Cup in April, organisers have announced.

FIFA head Sepp Blatter has advised Africa to endorse a single bidder to stage the 2006 World Cup finals on the continent for the first time.

The Paris-Dakar rally returns to its geographical roots in 2001 when the race starts from the French capital on New Year's Day before a 10,000-km trek across Europe and north Africa takes competitors to the Senegal capital.

Romanian national coach Anghel Iordanescu has accused the country's soccer authorities of endangering the country's World Cup chances by denying him funds, facilities and competitive warm-up matches.

A FIFA delegation was reported to be satisfied with facilities in Lagos as it began a final inspection to decide if Nigeria should host the World Youth Cup.

The draw for the 2002 World Cup, the biggest in the tournament's 69-year history, will involve 195 nations and be seen live on Tuesday by a television audience of about one billion people.

Portugal have rejected a proposal to play a friendly against a Catalan "national" team at Barcelona's Nou Camp because of the hostile reception given to Real Madrid?s Luis Figo by Barcelona fans, Spanish newspapers have reported.

A bruising three-month battle for the FIFA presidency reaches a climax on Monday when Sepp Blatter and Lennart Johansson contest the biggest job in soccer.

Germany's Football Association still plan to visit Qatar next month following new FIFA guidelines aimed at avoiding any trace of scandal in the bid to stage the 2006 World Cup.

The draw for the 2002 World Cup, the biggest in the tournament's 69-year history, will involve 195 nations and be seen live on Tuesday by a television audience of about one billion people.

Nigeria's Football Association has called on FIFA to intervene in a growing row with foreign clubs over the release of players for the Sydney Olympics.

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.

A FIFA team on a final inspection of Nigerian facilities for the World Youth Cup has criticised the stadiums at two venues.