By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 6 - Some of the 10 candidates vying for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup will almost certainly be forced to withdraw before the vote is taken just over a year from now, a senior FIFA administrator has predicted.
By Duncan Mackay
December 5 – England’s pairing with Algeria in the draw for 2010 World Cup seems set to give them the country’s 2018 World Cup bid the perfect opportunity to try to impress one of the 24 members of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee who are due to vote next year on which countries should host the tournament.
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By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 5 – Scores of cameras clicked furiously as a media throng surged towards the instantly recognisable and impeccably dressed footballing galactico.
By Duncan Mackay
December 5 – Brazil and Germany have signed a cooperation agreement for the 2014 World Cup, it has been announced.
By Duncan Mackay
December 5 – The official match ball for next year’s World Cup finals designed by Adidas will be called Jabulani, it has been announced.
December 5 – The women’s World Cup will expand its field from 16 to 24 teams for the 2015 tournament, FIFA has announced.
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By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 4 – No European team has ever won the World Cup outside of Europe. No host nation has ever failed to get past the first phase.
By David Owen in Cape Town
December 4 – South Africa and Mexico will contest the first-ever World Cup finals match on African soil in Johannesburg on June 11, after the draw for the 2010 tournament was completed tonight in Cape Town.
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 4 – The bidding war for the 2018 World Cup burst into controversy today when the official United States presentation was interrupted by the arrival of Spain and Portugal’s main ambassadors.
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.