With the political upheaval in Africa the past two years, it is of little surprise that football is feeling the effects. Egypt have been forced to host their first qualifier behind closed doors in Alexandria on 1 June 2012 against Mozambique. Libya have been forced to play their home opener in Sfax, Tunisia on 10 June 2012 against Cameroon. The recent overthrow of the Malian government has left Mali's home fixture against Algeria on Matchday Two to remain unscheduled. Additional security personnel will be on hand for Nigeria and Kenya's home openers as well. Nigeria moved its match originally scheduled for the national stadium in Abuja to Calabar.In sad news, Rwanda will have to deal with the untimely death of their captain Patrick Mafisango as they begin play in the CAF Second Round. Mafisango was killed in a car wreck in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. His club team Simba is based in that city. Mafisango made 32 appearances for Rwanda.
Press Releases:
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7936770/2014-world-cup-egypt-libya-qualifiers-played-minus-fans
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7941927/ex-rwanda-captain-patrick-mafisango-dies-car-crash
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7927929/otl-former-us-soccer-coach-bob-bradley-bonds-egyptian-star-aboutrika-espn-magazine Article on Bob Bradley, coach of Egypt
Match Previews:
Namibia
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1634638/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment