By David Owen in Cape Town
December 4 – It was a cross between a bazaar and a travel trade conference. Today in Cape Town, on the manicured lawns of a governmental mansion, the bidders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups finally got to see the whites of each other’s eyes.
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By Duncan Mackay
December 3 – David Beckham today continued his one-man campaign to win England its bid to host the 2018 World Cup when attended a ‘Coaching for Hope’ (CfH) session at the Khaylitsha Township, Cape Town to meet with youngsters and coaches involved with the scheme.
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 3 – Holland and Belgium will resist all pressure to pull out of the running to stage the 2018 World Cup and insist they have just as strong a case as their European rivals.
By Andrew Warshaw on Robben Island
Decmber 3 – After years of club versus country conflict, football’s world governing body today agreed to hand over $40 million (£24 million) to clubs whose players compete in next year’s World Cup finals.
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Today I met a great football man. Easily done, you might think, in the city that is about to host the World Cup draw; the place must be swarming with Beckenbauers, Platinis and Beckhams.
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By Duncan Mackay
December 3 – Players like Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney (pictured) will be eligible to play at London 2012 after FIFA today decided to retain its current under-23 status plus three over-age players at the Olympics.
By Duncan Mackay
December 2 – David Beckham is set to stay in South Africa to help England’s 2018 World Cup bid despite the death of his 83-year-old grandfather, which has left him devastated.
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 2 - Talk about a double whammy. No sooner did Thierry Henry’s France become the fall guys in a revamped seeding system for next summer’s World Cup than Henry’s own damaged reputation took another serious battering.
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 2 - Early yesterday evening in Johannesburg, Ruud Gullit, one of Holland’s most famous footballing ambassadors, shook his head in disbelief at rumours that Holland would not be seeded at next year’s World Cup finals.
By Duncan Mackay
December 2 – Diego Maradona (pictured), one of the greatest players in history and now Argentina’s coach, has been told by FIFA that he is not welcome in Cape Town at the draw for next year’s World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw in Johannesburg
December 2 – As public relations campaigns go, Russia’s 2018 World Cup delegation at the Soccerex conference in Johannesburg could not have done much more than name their imposing stand Red Square Lounge.
By Duncan Mackay in Johannesburg
December 1 – Ronald de Boer, the former Dutch and Rangers star, claimed that Qatar has the ability to host the “best World Cup ever” after he was officially unveiled here today along with Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta as an ambassador for their bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
By Duncan Mackay
December 1 – Hollywood star Nicole Kidman (pictured) has lent her voice to Australia’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cups.
By Andrew Warshaw in Johannesburg
December 1 – England’s 2018 World Cup bid team today launched a passionate defence of their campaign here as the public relations war among bidding nations intensified.
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By Andrew Warshaw in Johannesburg
December 1 – Two of world football’s most respected statesmen have called for the immediate introduction of goal line technology as a result of the infamous Thierry Henry handball that is showing no sign of being taken off the game’s agenda.