FIFA rankings - Egypt makes big leap in latest rankings

Egypt have climbed up more places than any other African country in Fifa's latest world rankings for March.

14 Mar 2014
2014 World Cup - warm up - Ghana

Ghana Sports Minister Elvis Ankrah is confident the team will prepare in the right way for a successful World Cup.

12 Mar 2014
2014 World Cup - warm up - African sides ready

All five of Africa's World Cup finalists are in action this week as they continue their preparations for this summer's tournament in Brazil.
(Algeria; Cameroon; Ghana; Côte d'Ivoire; Nigeria)

5 Mar 2014
stars in Europe - Yaya Toure's incredible journey

He won the Champions League and two La Liga titles while with Barca. Toure also won league titles in Greece and England, and domestic cups in each country too. According to the people who know him best, Yaya Toure always had the ability and ambition he needed to make his journey from a barefooted boy footballer to one of the best players in the world. 

22 Feb 2014
stars in Europe - AC Milan set to sign Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien

Chelsea have agreed a deal with AC Milan to sell midfielder Michael Essien to the Italian side. Essien has flown in for talks and a medical with Clarence Seedorf's underachieving Serie A club.

25 Jan 2014
NATIONAL LEAGUE - TUNISIA - COACH - Ruud Krol appointed as new Esperance coach

The 64-year-old former Dutch World Cup captain joined the Tunisian side only a day after leading CS Sfaxien to glory in the Confederation Cup with a 3:2 aggregate win over TP Mazembe. Krol's departure ends a successful year at the club in which he also led the Tunisians to a first league title in eight years in May. "It was my decision to leave. 

20 Jan 2014

2015 AFRICA CUP - EQUATORIAL GUINEA - PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY

AFRICA CUP 2015

Mongomo, the hometown of Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang, along with Ebebeyin, Bata and Malabo are set to host the finals.

Equatorial Guinea agreed to organise the tournament last month at the request of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

CAF took the finals away from Morocco, who had demanded a delay due to their fears over Ebola.

The stadiums in Malabo and Bata were both used as venues when Equatorial Guinea co-hosted the 2012 Nations Cup with Gabon.

However work needs to be done on the grounds in both Ebebeyin and Mongomo.

"The turf for Mongomo and Ebebeyin stadiums is going to be brought by plane from Europe," one of the supervisors told the BBC.

Work also needs to be done on the stadium structure and other facilities, but all those involved in the preparations are confident the work will be completed in time.

"Time is a big challenge but the good thing is that it's not new for us to work against time," said Francisca Obiang Jimenez, the president of the Office of National Projects, who was there supervising the works.

"We have built almost an entire city, Sipopo, in about two years and we've also built a highway.

"Everybody was expecting that that would finish four years from now but we finished it on time, so I don't think there will be much problem with the stadiums."

The new highway means you can travel from Bata, on the coast, to Mongomo, located near the eastern border with Gabon, in around two hours.

While the stadiums look set to be ready in time, having enough accommodation could be a challenge for the organisers in both Mongomo and Ebebeyin.

Ebebeyin has only one large hotel of international standards.

"We have hotels and we have also some social houses that we've finished building and have not given to anybody yet," Ms Obiang Jimenez told us.

"So we are furnishing them in case we find ourselves with not enough rooms but, according to what the CAF said, we have more than enough."

The government and organisers are also taking measures against the possibility of the deadly Ebola virus getting into the country.

All passengers arriving at Malabo airport from abroad are having their temperature checked.

There was also an Ebola screening exercise at Bata stadium, before a match of the CEMAC (Economic Community of Central African States) Cup, which is currently being staged in Equatorial Guinea.

"During the Cup of Nations, there will be other controls and this kind of protection will be happening further away from the stadium," a local fan, Juan Esono, told us.

A Cameroonian working at the Mongomo stadium told BBC Sport: "I've been checked many times for Ebola when crossing the border near Ebebeyin. 

So I don't think there will be a problem with the virus here."

 

11 Dec 2014
(BBC Africa by Manuel Toledo)

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