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8 Jan 2015
2015 AFRICA CUP - CAMEROON - SONG MISSES OUT ON SQUAD AND QUITS DUTY

Cameroon and West Ham midfielder Alex Song has retired from international football after his exclusion from his country's Africa Cup of Nations squad.

7 Jan 2015
2015 AFRICA CUP - ALGERIA - ABEID AND BELKALEM OUT OF SQUAD

Algeria have confirmed that their Newcastle midfielder Mehdi Abeid and Trabzonspor defender Essaid Belkalem have been ruled out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations because of injury.

6 Jan 2015
2015 AFRICA CUP - GABON - SOKAMBI REPLACES LEMINA

France Under-20 World Cup winner Mario Lemina, who declined a place in Gabon's 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squad, has been replaced by Bonaventure Sokambi.

5 Jan 2015
RISING STARS - CAMEROON - ONANA TO JOIN AJAX FROM BARCELONA

Barcelona youth goalkeeper Andre Onana has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Ajax in July, the Dutch champions announced on Saturday.

4 Jan 2015
2015 AFRICA CUP - GABON - DIDIER NDONG SIGNS FOR FRENCH SIDE FC LORIENT

The 20-year-old midfielder played with Tunisian outfit CS Sfaxien during the 2012-2013 season, and will represent Gabon in the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

3 Jan 2015
2015 AFRICA CUP - EQUATORIAL GUINEA - COACHES - BECKER EXPECTED TO BE THE NEW COACH

Africa Cup of Nations hosts Equatorial Guinea are set to appoint Esteban Becker to replace Andoni Goikoetxea.

2 Jan 2015
HAPPY NEW YEAR

ALL THE BEST FOR 2015

1 Jan 2015
2015 AFRICA CUP - MALI - MAIGA RECALLED TO SQUAD

Modibo Maiga has been named in Mali's 23-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea despite missing all their qualifiers.

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2015 AFRICA CUP - CONGO DR - BOLASIE IN SQUAD

Yannick Bolasie is one of three England-based players in Democratic Republic of Congo's provisional squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

31 Dec 2014

FIFA - PORTUGAL - candidate Luis Figo wants World Cup with 48 teams

Luís Figo World Cup 2014

 

Luis Figo would consider a bigger World Cup if he is elected to replace Sepp Blater as Fifa president.

Releasing his manifesto at Wembley Stadium, the legendary Portugal midfielder said he would look at increasing the number of teams from 32 to 40 or even 48.

Figo, 42, is one of three candidates challenging Blatter in the election on 29 May.

He also proposed sin-bins and reverting to the old offside rule interpretation.

Dutch federation president Michael van Praag and Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein are also in the running to become head of football's world governing body.

Former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan winger Figo, who played at two World Cups, said on Thursday that the current format could be increased to 40 teams or Fifa could stage two 24-team competitions simultaneously on two continents, followed by a knockout phase in one nation.

He said: "Both these options are feasible with an extra three to four days of tournament play.

If this expansion were to take place I believe that additional teams should come from non-European nations.

"We not only make sure that we include more countries from across the world, but also enable Fifa to raise significant increased revenues that can be used to invest in the growth of the game globally."

Figo, the 2001 Fifa world player of the year, also proposes:

•    Spreading half of Fifa's $2.5bn revenue over four years to associations to fund grassroots football.    

•    Redistributing $1bn of Fifa's $1.5bn cash reserves to the 209 national federations. 

•    Increased use of technology in the game, using sin-bins for unsporting behaviour.    

•    Reverting back to the previous interpretation of the offside rule, "where a player is judged offside whether directly involved in the play or not".


Blatter, 78, has been Fifa boss since 1998 and said in June 2014 that he intended to run for a fifth term.

He was criticised for Fifa's handling of Michael Garcia's report into alleged corruption during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

 

 

21 Feb 2015
(BBC Sport UK)

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