By Mark Ledsom
Fri Aug 29, 2008
ZURICH (Reuters) - Ethiopia’s hopes of taking part in the 2010 World Cup were dealt a further blow on Friday when FIFA confirmed that it was cancelling a qualifying match against Morocco scheduled for September 7.
The world governing body suspended the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) last month following a long-running row over what FIFA considered the wrongful dismissal of the association’s leaders.
“FIFA today confirmed that the match is cancelled due to the current suspension of the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) from international football,” FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA said that the World Cup organising committee would meet on an unspecified date to decide what effect the cancelled game would have on the situation in Ethiopia’s qualifying group.
Ethiopia are currently third in the four-man group which also includes Rwanda and Mauritania.
(Editing by John Mehaffey)
Ethiopia to Take FIFA to Court
ADDIS ABABA, July 31 (Reuters) - Ethiopian soccer authorities said on Thursday a suspension by FIFA was illegal and that they would take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
FIFA suspended the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) on Tuesday after it repeatedly failed to comply with a February 2008 agreement aimed at restoring its officially recognised leaders.
“The ban imposed by FIFA is illegal and EFF will take its case to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport,” the body said in a statement.
Unless the suspension is lifted, Ethiopia will not be able to play their next international match, a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Morocco on Sept. 7.
The statement urged FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to send a delegation to Ethiopia to investigate the problem. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Sonia Oxley).http://www.tadias.com/2008/08/29/fifa-cancels-ethiopia-world-cup-qualifier/
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The Moroccan authorities say they have broken up a militant cell operating in several towns in the kingdom.
The group allegedly had links with al- Qaeda and police described the 15 people arrested as "dangerous".
They had electronic and chemical materials used to make explosives, reports the state press agency, MAP.
It is the fourth such network Morocco says it has broken up this year. An al-Qaeda-inspired group has said it was behind recent attacks in Algeria.
"The members of this structure, known as "Fath al-Andalous" [Conquest of Andalusia], planned to carry out attacks in Morocco and had formed operational links with foreign extremists who have pledged allegiance to the al-Qaeda organisation," MAP says.
The BBC's James Copnall in Morocco says this is almost certainly a reference to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (QIM), an organisation largely based in neighbouring Algeria which has ties with Osama bin Laden's movement.
QIM says it has carried out attacks in several other North African countries, as well as the Algeria bombings which left 70 dead.
However, some analysts believe there is little real regional co-ordination between extremist groups.
Our correspondent says Morocco has been accused of over-dramatising the threat it faces from extremists, to benefit from support from the US and Europe.
Nevertheless, he notes that there have been attacks in Morocco: the most dramatic example occurred five years ago, when suicide bombers killed 45 people in Casablanca.
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