Governing Bodies
Parade of 10 teams at Qatar 2022, African Playoffs Draw
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, African Qualifiers Third Round draw will be conducted on Saturday, 22 January 2022 in Douala, Cameroon.
The draw will start at 16:00 local time (15:00 GMT, 17:00 CAT), and will be live on CAF platforms.
The 10 qualified teams will be divided into two levels based on the official FIFA ranking, published in 19 November 2021 as follows:
Level 1: Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Nigeria
Level 2: Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and DR Congo
The five highest ranked teams will play against the five least ranked teams (the first leg will be played at home of the lower ranked teams).
Following are the teams World Cup fact sheet, in alphabetic order (in English):
Algeria
Algeria played in FIFA World Cup finals four times (1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014). Their best feat was Round of 16 in Brazil 2014.
In total, Algeria played 13 matches, where they won 3, drew 3 and lost 7. They scored 13 goals and conceded 19 in the process.
Cameroon
Cameroon was the first African team to reach World Cup quarterfinals in Italy 1990. They appeared in seven editions, African record (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014)
In total, Cameroon played 23 matches, where they won 4, drew 7 and lost 12. They scored 18 goals and conceded 43 in the process.
DR Congo
DR Congo only World Cup appearance was in West Germany in 1974.
DR Congo (Zaire) played 3 World Cup matches; losing them all, scoring none and conceding 14 goals.
Egypt
Egypt was the first African country to reach the FIFA world Cup, in Italy 1934. They appeared in three World Cups (1934, 1990 and 2018).
In total, Egypt played 7 World Cup matches; winning none, drawing twice and losing 5. They scored 5 goals and conceded 12 in the process.
Ghana
Ghana is one of three African teams to play a World Cup quarterfinal, in South Africa 2010. They appeared in the World Cup three times (2006, 2010, 2014)
In total, Ghana played 12 World Cup matches; winning 4, drawing 3 and losing 5. The Black Stars scored 13 goals and conceded 16 in the process.
Mali
Mali is the only team in the playoffs that has never played in World Cup finals before.
Morocco
Morocco was the first African team to go past the group stage when they reached the Round of 16 in 1986. They appeared in World Cup five times (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998 and 2018)
In total, Morocco played 16 matches, where they won 2, drew 5 and lost 9. They scored 14 goals and conceded 22 in the process.
Nigeria
Nigeria reached the Round of 16 three times, in USA 1994, France 1998 and Brazil 2014. They played in six World Cup editions (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
In total, Nigeria played 21 matches, where they won 6, drew 3 and lost 12. They scored 23 goals and conceded 30 in the process.
Senegal
Senegal are one of the three African teams to reach the World Cup quarterfinals, in Japan / South Koea 2002. They played in the World Cup twice (2002 and 2018)
In total, Senegal played 8 World Cup matches; winning 3, drawing 3 and losing 2. The Teranga Lions scored 11 goals and conceded 10 in the process.
Tunisia
Tunisia appeared in the World Cup five times (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2018)
In total, Tunisia played 15 matches, where they won 2, drew 4 and lost 9. They scored 13 goals and conceded 25 in the process.
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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