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Africa

September 6, 1997

Draw for Africa Qualifiers

Nigeria, winners of Africa's last two World Cup qualifying competitions, has been given a bye for the 1st round.

First Round
Teams play two games: home and away.

First games for the following teams will be played March 27,28,29 1998

1. Mozambique v Lesotho
2. Rep.South Africa v Swaziland
3. Namiba v Congo RD
4. Cameroon v Sierra Leone
5. Egypt v Uganda
6. Ghana v Guinea
7. Kenya v Madagascar

Return games will be played April 10,11, 12 1998

Quarter-Final Matches
teams play two games: home and away

First games will be played May 15, 16, 17 May 1998

Game	Winner of	Plays	Winner of
A)	2		1
B)	4		3
C)	6		5
D)	Nigeria		7

Return games will be played May 29, 30, 31 1998

Semi-Final Matches
teams play two games home and away

First games will be played September 10, 11, 12 1998

E) Winner of A Versus winner of B
F) Winner of C Versus Winner of D

Return games will be played September 24, 25, 26 1998

Final Game: Date Not Set

Winner of E Versus Winner of F

COMMENTARY
March 4, 1998
Turmoil In Africa's WWCup'99 Qualifying Program?

In our September/October edition of Women's Soccer World magazine, we had commented on the apparent lack of direction for the women's game on the continent in spite of their representation (Ismail Bhamjee of Botswana)on FIFA's women's committee. Soon after our comment a schedule was produced and WSW published it in the next edition, although we were somewhat skeptical about some of the teams listed. For example we noticed that Botswana had no National team yet Congo R.D. Was listed.

CAF has informed the countries involved that the schedule announced has been changed and that instead of all games being played on a home and away basis, the seven teams remaining after the first round will play with Nigeria (who had been given a bye through the first rounds) in a tournament to be held in Nigeria. No dates or other information have been released at this time.

In another surprise move Morocco (current Arab Champions) will be included in the final tournament in Nigeria without playing in the first round. The top two teams will qualify for a World Cup '99 place.

WSW asked Fran Hilton-Smith, the Technical Director of Women's Soccer for South Africa, for her thoughts about this change. She said "It is qualifying more difficult for us as it is always a big incentive to have your fans with you. We will not see many travelling to Nigeria because air fares are so expensive. We will try and play many friendlies against the countries we could meet in Nigeria, we cannot take a chance of waiting to meet them there. We must test our strength against them in advance and make adjustments accordingly".

South Africa's National Team is scheduled to play Arsenal in England next Wednesday (our sources there told us that the English FA felt that they were not strong enough to play the National Team). They will also play Morocco in a game scheduled because they were not previously in the qualification tournament.

September 6, 1997

Draw for Africa Qualifiers

Nigeria, winners of Africa's last two World Cup qualifying competitions, has been given a bye for the 1st round.

First Round
Teams play two games: home and away.

First games for the following teams were played March 27,28,29 1998.

Namibia, Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Kenya have withdrawn from the qualifying schedule due to lack of funds for travel and organization.

1. Mozambique v Lesotho (3-0)
2. Rep.South Africa v Swaziland (9-0)
3. Egypt v Uganda (1-1)
4. Ghana v Guinea (11-0)

Unfortunately the ever changing qualifying procedure in Africa is looking even more muddled than our worst fears expressed last year.

The Namibia Federation has told their Women's National Team that they had no funds for them. Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Kenya have also withdrawn from competition. As WSW reported earlier this year Morocco who had not been an entrant originally, has been substituted for the drop outs.

Perhaps the most disturbing information that we have received from a correspondent in Nigeria is that the changes have all been made without consultation with the other Soccer Federations in CAF.