President Gianni Infantino has apologised to the Fifa Council for his World Cup sell-off plan – but has been told he is not fit to lead unless he releases all of the documents and answers key questions.
The Fifa Council met in Zurich on Thursday for the first time since Infantino’s secret Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal emerged.
Under FFE, which Infantino scrapped within days, a portion of the commercial rights of football’s world governing body would have been given to a private investment firm.
Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt – a Fifa vice-president – said afterwards that many questions remained unanswered.
“One of the disappointing things is that we didn’t get answers to anything that we had specifically requested – for example getting the papers from FFE,” Hewitt said.
“I asked the question ‘why not?’ – and we were asked to submit those questions in writing.
“I think the man has to answer those questions and if he doesn’t answer those questions now, he’s not fit to be Fifa president – and that was what was shared in the meeting.”
Hewitt acknowledged there had been “some contrition” in Infantino’s apology.
“Then there were no holds barred in terms of what we felt about what had happened,” she added.
“What he really apologised for was not bringing it to the council. If you regret it that deeply, share it with us.”
Uefa – European football’s governing body – has been one of Infantino’s fiercest critics and has repeatedly called on him to stand down.
Asked if there was any change in stance from Uefa about Infantino, Hewitt added: “From my position, nothing has shifted. I’ve no new information that makes me feel any differently, other than we do have a president who is apologetic.”
Australia underlined why they are favourites for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup by fighting back from a mauling at the hands of New Zealand’s powerful pack to win a thrilling opening match of the tournament.
This was as good as it gets in terms of international rugby league, with more than 40,000 fans – the biggest Test match crowd in Sydney for 50 years – witnessing the ultimate smash-and-grab victory by Kevin Walters’ side.
Casey McLean’s stunning early try gave New Zealand the impetus and they were on top until the final five minutes, when Jack Bostock marked a stunning Kangaroos debut with his third try to decide an epic match.
Bostock’s dream debut – which included one interception try and two by winning aerial battles to claim spiralling Cameron Munster kicks – was one of many fascinating sub plots.
Kalyn Ponga’s match-up against his Australia counterpart Reece Walsh, arguably the sport’s biggest star, was another.
The Kiwi full-back scored twice and looked to be coming out on top in their personal battle until Walsh conjured up a superb long-range try to lay the platform for the defending champions’ last-gasp triumph.
Ponga left the field injured with the game in the balance and had his left arm in a sling at full time, which does not bode well for the rest of his tournament.
Football’s global governing body is expected to change a rule that allowed a red card for USA forward Folarin Balogun to be controversially overturned during the World Cup, according to media reports on the agenda for Thursday’s FIFA council meeting in Zurich.
The decision-making body is convening for the first time since this year’s tournament, and a motion to prohibit such actions in the future will be top of the agenda. Members will also discuss the organisation’s funding, rules and other matters amid a turbulent time in the sport.
During the World Cup’s round-of-32 match, Balogun received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia in a 2-0 win for the home team. It triggered an automatic one-game suspension.
However, United States President Donald Trump urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the case, and Balogun’s red card was overturned, allowing him to play in the USA’s round-of-16 match against Belgium.
The decision to overturn Balogun’s red card ignited one of the tournament’s biggest controversies, with widespread criticism from football federations, former FIFA officials, experts and coaches.
The 37-member FIFA council is expected to vote on whether to prohibit disciplinary committees from overturning automatic match suspensions at the World Cup, but the Balogun controversy is unlikely to go away.
FIFA Vice President Debbie Hewitt is among the sport’s leaders who have asked Infantino to release all documents related to the case.
Thursday’s FIFA council meeting is the first since Infantino came under fire earlier this year for a now-shelved plan to sell a 20 percent stake in the World Cup’s commercial business to private investors.
Infantino has faced calls to resign from the leaders of three regional football confederations – UEFA (Europe), AFC (Asia) and CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) – and their representatives will be present in Zurich for the FIFA meeting.
They will be joined by their counterparts from Africa, South America and Oceania.
Under the plan, Infantino proposed selling a minority stake in a FIFA commercial subsidiary to private investors, with a company launched by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, identified as the proposed lead investor.
The council will also address FIFA’s governance, with some of the sport’s most powerful figures determined to limit Infantino’s powers if they cannot force him out of office.
Infantino, 56, will stand for re-election in March 2027, with a November 18 deadline looming for potential candidates to submit their nominations.
Kallum Watkins has been called up to England’s Rugby League World Cup squad as a late replacement after Morgan Smithies was forced to withdraw through injury.
The 35-year-old Leeds Rhinos second-row forward is set to take part in his fourth World Cup having previously featured in 2013, 2017 and 2022.
The loss of lock and second-row forward Smithies, who is set to join Perth Bears for the 2027 NRL season, comes as a blow to England.
However, in Watkins, head coach Brian McDermott has found a replacement he knows well having previously coached him during a trophy-laden spell at Leeds.
“It’s really unfortunate what has happened to Morgan with an injury picked up in training,” said McDermott.
“Morgan has been great since we entered camp. He’s a real team player and his work ethic and toughness are qualities that we will certainly miss.
“Kallum enjoyed a terrific season with Leeds this year and has been part of our England performance programme building into this World Cup.
“I look forward to welcoming him into camp as we step up our preparations.”
Watkins, who has 32 caps, is set to arrive in Perth before England’s World Cup opener against Tonga on Saturday (10:05 BST) but will not play.
He started his career as a centre before shifting into the pack in recent years and will be available for England’s other group matches against France and Papua New Guinea.
Stanway’s strikes in the last five days capped off a season in which she finished as England’s top scorer and netted 11 times in her last 11 matches.
She also ranks inside the top three for most goals scored by European players in international football since Euro 2025.
While Wiegman was frustrated by her side’s lack of ruthlessness in Greece, Stanway always looked dangerous and made sure she got on the scoresheet.
It felt inevitable she would join in the fun in Leicester when Alessia Russo and Lauren James grabbed a double each.
Stanway came close to matching them when the Arsenal midfielder coolly took control of a long ball inside the box with one deft touch and, with the second, fired it powerfully into the bottom corner.
It would have been the perfect strike to mark an impressive few days but it was ruled out for offside, much to Wiegman’s dismay.
“She is always so eager to go towards goal. She has that tenacity in her,” said the England boss when asked about Stanway’s goalscoring form.
“She is always aggressive out of possession but also in possession. She scored a great header and controlled that really good ball from Alex Greenwood.
“That was really good athleticism and composure. Unfortunately that was disallowed but it was really good!
“Football is about scoring goals, but also playing in the pockets, keeping the ball and connecting with other players – and I was happy with her [doing those].”
Former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis told BBC Radio 5 Live that Stanway was “unplayable at times” against Greece on Tuesday night.
She won all her tackles, had a 90% passing accuracy rate, took four shots, scored once and had another disallowed.
It was also a slightly different role for Stanway for most of the match as she played more as a right winger after changes in the midfield.
“She has something different to others,” Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“She is goal-orientated, has a great shot and the disallowed goal showed her great mobility and athleticism.
“When you really need a fight, or a duel, or a counter-attack breaking up, she is there. She is a warrior who you can play a possession game with too.”
The surge in soccer fans this summer was bad for some businesses in Los Angeles.
World Cup host cities had lofty economic expectations for the summer tournament. But the city’s hotels only got a 1% bump in occupancy, according to a report published this week by Hospitality Education and Research Organization, a project of the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles.
Seventy-two percent of surveyed hotels said the tournament hurt their 2026 finances, and 48% called the impact “extremely negative.” Just 2% said it met projections.
Downtown occupancy reached 66% in June, down from 71% a year earlier, the report says. Room nights fell between 10% and 12%.
Hotel guests at the Metropole restaurant just opposite the main lobby at the Hotel Indigo in downtown Los Angeles in May.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Ahead of World Cup tournaments, FIFA holds large blocks of rooms. But FIFA canceled or released up to 70% of the hotel room blocks it had reserved in host cities, including Los Angeles.
“We understood that we were maybe going to be disappointed with attendance going into the World Cup simply by the volume of cancellations that came out of the room block agreement,” said Jackie Filla, president and CEO of the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles.
The disappointing turnout led to staff reductions. Of the hotels surveyed 82% reduced seasonal staff and more than six in 10 reported reducing employee shifts, scheduled hours, or permanent staff.
Hotels did raise prices, with the average daily rate hitting $228, the highest of any comparable L.A. event in three years. But occupancy was 71%, well below the 83% recorded during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
A visitor walks in the lobby of the Hotel Indigo in downtown Los Angeles.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The survey drew 58 responses from 210 hotels, and the analysis was done by travel-data firm Rove using CoStar and AirDNA data. International visitors were also scarce, with Los Angeles welcoming 700,000 international arrivals in June and July — roughly 80,000 visitors below 2024 levels for the same period, the report says.
“We particularly didn’t see a lot of foreign visitors and that’s something that was disappointing,” Filla said. “Foreign visitors do spend three times the amount of money as the average domestic traveler.”
Short-term rentals, meanwhile, gained. Their demand rose 23% and revenue 21% versus July 2024, while hotel revenue fell 3.3%. Airbnb, the tournament’s official fan accommodation, offered new hosts $750 incentives.
The city is currently weighing a temporary proposal to ease its short-term rental rules through the end of 2028 to accommodate tourists. “That will really, truly undercut the business of hotels,” Filla added. “We saw some of that with the World Cup.”
The worry is carrying over to the Olympic Games, set to be hosted in Los Angeles in 2028. Six in 10 surveyed hoteliers expect an Olympic rental surge to hurt their bookings and rates, the report says.
The World Cup “gave us false hope to recover from a negative year,” one Los Angeles hotelier said, according to the report. “I also feel [the] same thing will probably happen for [the] Super Bowl and Olympics.”
Wales have reached the play-off stages of qualification for a major tournament for only the third time in the history of the women’s national side.
Their first attempt, in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, ended in agony.
Gemma Grainger’s team beat Bosnia-Herzgovina at the semi-final stage before – despite taking an early lead – losing out to a goal late in extra time of the final in Switzerland.
Two years later, it was an entirely different story as Wales overcame Slovakia and the Republic of Ireland to reach Euro 2025, the first women’s major tournament in the nation’s history.
Thanks in part to a lengthy injury list, James is one of only five players who began the decisive game in Dublin 22 months ago who are in contention to start against Albania.
The 146-cap Seattle Reign midfielder was also part of the side left heartbroken by that late defeat in Zurich in October 2022.
“[They were] two very different feelings after both games,” James said.
“The feeling that we had out in Switzerland, going so close in extra time and narrowly missing out, it fuelled us for Dublin.
“There’s a big group of us that experienced that and at the start of this camp we made sure the whole group was aware of how it feels to be on both ends of that.”
New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup for a 23rd straight year as they powered past Australia to extend their remarkable unbeaten run at Eden Park.
The All Blacks have not lost at the venue since 1994, with a dominant second-half display increasing their unbeaten run in Auckland to 54 Tests.
Australia remained in touch at half-time at 17-14 down but New Zealand blew the visitors away after the break, scoring five tries.
Peter Lakai, Tupou Vaa’i, Cam Roigard, Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan all scored as fly-half Damian McKenzie kicked 15 points to help the All Blacks retain the trophy which is contested annually between the two nations.
Victory halted a three-match losing streak for the All Blacks after the 3-1 series defeat by world champions South Africa this summer.
Defeat for the Wallabies was their first since head coach Les Kiss succeeded Joe Schmidt in July, ending their six-game unbeaten run.
Australia were looking for their first win at Eden Park since 1986 and went ahead after controlling the early stages through full-back Tom Wright’s try.
New Zealand responded strongly, and inspired by scrum-half Roigard’s searching kicks, turned the match around with tries from Lakai and Vaa’i.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson scored a try to keep New Zealand at arm’s length, but the All Blacks moved through the gears in the second half.
Roigard grabbed a try for himself shortly after the break, before Taylor, Carter, Moorby and Jordan went over as Australia struggled to hold back the hosts’ waves of attack.
Josh Nasser added a late try for the visitors, but the match was well beyond their reach by that point.
The second match of the two-Test series takes place in Sydney at the Accor Stadium on 17 October.
New Zealand: B Barrett; Jordan, Tupaea, J Barrett, Carter; McKenzie, Roigard; De Groot, Taylor (c), Newell, S Barrett, Lord, Vaa’i, Lakai, Sititi
Missing a number of experienced players, including captain Simone Magill, Laura Rafferty and Nadene Caldwell, McArdle handed a debut to defender Jane McMaster and first caps to Kess Elmore and Charlotte Havern off the bench.
McMaster responded well after giving away the early penalty for Encarnacao’s opener, while Kelmore was lively in the second half and, at 16, it was a big moment for Cliftonville’s Havern to be introduced with 10 minutes remaining.
“It’s fundamental, especially for our younger players, to get this exposure,” McArdle added.
“It’s a risk and it’s brave, but it’s one that will definitely 100% stand strong with us in the long term.
“It will give us that sustainable opportunity to qualify for tournaments in the longer run because we need our younger players to get this exposure, but also for a lot of our senior players as well.”
After impressing in the second half before Pinto’s goal took the wind out of their sails, McArdle said his players will “hurt for the next 24 hours or so” but regroup for the second leg.
Northern Ireland will be without Chambers, who was sent off in the closing stages for grabbing the hair of Carolina Correia.
“There’s the travel over to Portugal thrown in to allow us to relax a wee bit afterwards.
“But once we get there, we’ll look forward to Tuesday again.
“We’re trying to qualify, but there is a longer process as well that we’ll use Tuesday night for.”
CAF had declared the Africa Cup of Nations would be held every four years, but may reverse that decision.
Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is reappraising its decision to hold the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) every four years, CAF president Patrice Motsepe declared on Friday, while insisting his organisation did not take orders from FIFA or UEFA.
Motsepe, who last December announced the biennial AFCON would switch to a four-year cycle from 2028, said on Friday that it was “nonsense, absolute rubbish” that CAF was being dictated to by either the world or European governing body.
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The decision at the time, bringing the competition to a schedule that aligned with FIFA’s international calendar, rankled many at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, with some saying it was made with European wishes at heart to the detriment of African interests.
Motsepe, a South African billionaire who is also a vice-president of FIFA, appeared stung by the criticism.
“My No. 1 job, my No. 1 duty is to protect, promote, and advance the interests of Africa,” he said. “And there are times when I have to stand firm and say, ‘Listen, we’re going to fight on this issue.’ And there are times when I have to say, ‘No.’
“The AFCON — because this is one of the issues we’re talking about — we took a decision as Africa because there were lots of issues, but I can guarantee you we have discussed it over the last few days to say we are looking at everything, including having the AFCON coming back every two years,” Motsepe said. “We’re very clear.”
He was speaking at the final day of CAF’s three-day strategy conference in Cape Verde. On Thursday, he reiterated the 54-member body’s “unanimous” support for FIFA’s under-fire president Gianni Infantino, and Infantino reminded his potential election voters of investments FIFA has made for African football since gaining the job 10 years ago.
Motsepe reaffirmed the 2027 Africa Cup will go ahead as planned in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next year, despite recent media reports from France saying construction projects were not going to schedule and some CAF members were pushing to have the tournament moved.
“You have to believe in Africa. There will be problems, there will be failures, fine, but we will be there. That’s what Mandela taught us,” Motsepe said.
The Africa Cup of Nations could continue to be held every two years, with discussions under way to reverse its proposed switch to a four-year cycle.
Speaking on Friday at a Confederation of African Football (Caf) strategy conference in Cape Verde, president Patrice Motsepe said: “We’ve discussed it over the last few days.
“We are looking at everything, including having the Afcon coming back every two years. We are very clear, the matter is being reviewed.”
The tournament has taken place every two years since 1968, bar a one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 editions.
However, in December 2025 CAF announced it would shift to being staged every four years after the 2027 Afcon in East Africa and a 2028 edition.
That planned alteration to the schedule had received widespread criticism across the continent.
National associations had raised concerns about the visibility of their teams, the commercial implications and where Africa’s biggest competition would sit in the international football calendar.
Goals from Hammam Al-Hammami and Firas Al-Buraikan give the hosts their fourth Arabian Gulf Cup trophy.
Published On 7 Oct 20267 Oct 2026
Saudi Arabia have ended a long wait for an Arabian Gulf Cup trophy with a 2-0 win over the United Arab Emirates amid a charged atmosphere at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
The hosts held on to an early lead, thanks to goals from Hammam Al-Hammami and Firas Al-Buraikan, to lift the regional crown on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia set an early attacking pace in the game and were rewarded when Al-Hammami scored the opening goal in the 11th minute from the edge of the penalty area, setting off wild celebrations in the stands.
The home team’s dream start continued as, two minutes later, Al-Buraikan doubled the score with a close-range shot after a precise assist from Nasser Al-Dosari.
Saudi Arabia’s Firas Al-Buraikan celebrates scoring their second goal [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
Saleh Abu Al-Shamat almost scored the third goal for Saudi Arabia in the 16th minute, but the ball was deflected off the goalpost after a one-on-one with UAE goalkeeper Khaled Issa.
The UAE’s first attack came in the 24th minute, when Nicolas Gimenez’s shot hit the post.
Six minutes before halftime, UAE’s Bruno thought he had won a penalty, only to be reversed by the video assistant referee.
Saudi Arabia’s head coach Georgios Donis credited his team’s discipline for the long-awaited home win.
“There were many difficulties, but the players showed focus and discipline and gave their best on the pitch,” he said after the match.
“I think we turned those difficulties into a title, and that’s important. We were the best team in this tournament. This title gives us confidence for the future, and we must continue to show the same qualities.”
Saudi fans celebrate with flares after winning the Gulf Cup [Reuters]
Asian Cup boost
At the start of the second half, Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais saved a close-range shot from substitute Sultan Adel to maintain his impressive clean sheet in the tournament.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s wastefulness in front of goal, their coach was pleased with the team’s efforts.
“After the World Cup, we realised we made mistakes and went through bad moments, but we learned from that experience,” Donis said.
“We improved our level and developed our style of play. And I think they deserve this result. It reflects our hard work.”
Saudi Arabia have now won four Gulf Cup titles, with the last one clinched in 2004.
The Green Falcons exited the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the group stage but will look at their performance in the Gulf Cup as a foundation for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2027.
Saudi Arabia will host the continental tournament from January 7 to February 5, as it gears up to become the second Gulf country after Qatar to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034.
In 2018, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas – two of the three youngest players on Furyk’s team – starred as they won three out of four points as a foursomes and fourballs pairing.
With 21-year-old Jackson Koivun having impressed during an unbeaten Presidents Cup debut in last month’s comeback victory over the Internationals in Chicago, Furyk says he is excited to inject more youth into the US side.
“I really love the guys who have played for us in the past few years,” the 56-year-old, who played in nine consecutive Ryder Cups between 1997 and 2014, told the BBC.
“We have tough, gritty veterans who have been around the block, and I’m excited, we have a lot of great, young talent who have yet to play in this cup and I’d bet two or three of them will be at Adare.”
During the news conference, Furyk said he will ask his team to “do more than any American team has in the past” to seal an elusive away win and vowed to address his side’s dismal recent record in foursomes.
The US won just three points from a possible 16 in the alternate-shot format over the past two Ryder Cups.
“I know those numbers very well. I’ve lived them the last four,” said Furyk.
“It’s not an anomaly. There’s some issues. We understand that. Not something I’m very happy with. I plan on making some changes.
“As captains we need to do a better job – not only putting the folks into good pairings in good positions, but I don’t think we are preparing for those matches in a proper way.”
The 2027 Ryder Cup – the second to be staged in Ireland after the K Club in 2006 – will take place on 17-19 September.
The word “process” has been used so many times by the Scotland head coach and his players in recent days it’s probably the new team motto.
But there is truth in it.
Pocognoli is trying to implement a radically different system to his predecessor. Not only that, it’s a different mindset. All while trying to embed a clutch of new players.
It’s early days for the Belgian, his group, and, of course, Bowie. But the man on loan at Sassuolo believes things are clicking, and it’s an opportunity for him to make his mark.
“It’s a lot longer international break,” he explained. “We spend a lot more time together so it’s good for him to get his message across and his ideas. Also, we play more games so we have to train a little bit less of course.
“I think for me it’s a fresh start with a new coach and different ideas.
“He said to me ‘you don’t need to prove yourself, just go and do what I know you can do’ and I feel like I’m just doing that.”
Bowie, who made his Rovers debut at 16, added: “I think people, obviously Scottish fans, have the same idea of how I was when I was at Hibs and that’s all they can remember.
“But I feel like since I moved to Serie A, it’s a different challenge against more experienced players and at a higher level.
“So, yeah, I feel like I’ve definitely kicked into another gear and I feel like I’m showing that.”
Nairobi, Kenya – With less than nine months until the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are entering the most demanding phase of preparations: completing and testing the stadiums, training grounds and supporting infrastructure needed to host the tournament.
The tournament, scheduled for June 19 to July 17, 2027, will be the first Africa Cup of Nations jointly hosted by three countries and the competition’s return to East Africa since Ethiopia staged the finals in 1976.
A Confederation of African Football (CAF) delegation spent eight days inspecting facilities across the three host countries earlier this month, assessing stadiums, training grounds, hotels, airports and other infrastructure. The delegation included officials responsible for competitions, safety and security, transport, media, television and logistics.
Kenya: Talanta takes centre stage
In Kenya, the biggest project is the newly built Talanta Sports International Stadium in Nairobi.
The 60,000-capacity stadium is intended to be the country’s flagship AFCON venue and was inspected by CAF earlier this month. During a subsequent visit, CAF President Patrice Motsepe said he was impressed by the progress at Talanta. He also visited Kasarani Stadium, where work remains to be completed.
But Kenya’s preparations extend well beyond its new flagship stadium.
CAF’s inspection also covered training venues, hotels, airport infrastructure and other sites supporting the Nairobi tournament operation.
Nicholus Musonye, chairman of Kenya’s AFCON 2027 Local Organising Committee, told Al Jazeera that the country was addressing the outstanding requirements.
“I want to assure Africa, and I want to assure the world, that Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, we are ready to host AFCON,” Musonye said.
He said work on Kasarani’s pitch should be completed by the end of October, with the venue planned to be ready for handover in December.
But concerns remain about some of the facilities that will support the tournament.
Kelvin Kimaru, a Kenyan football fan, told Al Jazeera that training grounds remained a concern.
“We are not yet ready because the training grounds for the coming teams are not yet ready,” Kimaru said.
Moses Kamalik, an executive member of the Boxing Federation of Kenya, said other venues also needed work, including Nyayo Stadium and Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret.
The challenge for Kenya is broader than completing Talanta; it needs a network of match venues, training grounds and supporting facilities capable of operating together when teams and supporters arrive.
Tanzania: the race extends beyond stadiums
Tanzania is also entering the final stretch, with preparations covering stadiums, training grounds and the infrastructure connecting them.
Neema Msitha, chief executive of the country’s AFCON 2027 Local Organising Committee, told Al Jazeera that the country’s stadiums were more than 80 percent complete on average and expected to be ready for handover to CAF in January.
“All these stadiums are almost ready. If you grade them on average, all of them are almost above 80 percent,” Msitha said.
Training facilities are being developed alongside the main venues, with five facilities being prepared in each host location. Msitha said they were about 75 percent complete.
The three East African hosts are moving from construction to testing and operational preparations as the 2027 tournament approaches [Hafsa Abdiwahab Sheikh/Al Jazeera]
The Tanzanian government has also applied pressure to accelerate the work.
In August, Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba ordered work on AFCON training grounds to speed up, saying the facilities needed to be completed on time and meet CAF standards. He issued the directive after inspecting the Farasi and Leaders Club training grounds in Dar-es-Salaam.
Road infrastructure is also part of the preparations. In June, Works Minister Abdallah Ulega ordered contractors working on roads linked to the tournament in Arusha to operate around the clock to meet deadlines and international standards.
Msitha pointed to regional airlines, Air Tanzania and ferry services between Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar as part of the transport arrangements being developed for teams, officials and supporters.
CAF’s September inspection included Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar-es-Salaam and other key facilities in Tanzania as the governing body continued to assess preparations across the three hosts.
Uganda faces its own deadlines
Uganda is working towards the same year-end push.
Patrick Ogwel, a CAF infrastructure monitoring officer, told Al Jazeera that infrastructure development was expected to be ready by December 31.
Hoima City Stadium has been completed and commissioned, he said, while Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira is due to be completed and commissioned by December.
Uganda’s Local Organising Committee has identified Akii-Bua, Hoima City Stadium and Mandela National Stadium as its three main stadiums. It expects 10 of the country’s 12 training facilities to be ready by the end of the year.
The organising committee said after CAF’s latest inspection that all three stadiums remained on course for completion by the end of December, while some training facilities were planned to be completed in January 2027.
But the deadlines are not without pressure.
On September 24, Uganda’s State Minister for Sports Peter Ogwang directed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces to accelerate work on several AFCON training facilities, citing concerns about the pace of construction at sites including Pece Stadium in Gulu, Lira and Gulu University.
After its September inspection, the CAF delegation also briefed President Yoweri Museveni, with challenges outside Kampala among the issues raised during the assessment.
From construction to tournament readiness
The coming months will test whether the three hosts can turn construction progress into a functioning tournament operation.
AFCON requires stadiums and training grounds that can handle teams and spectators while meeting requirements for broadcasting, media, security, transport, hospitality and match operations.
A completed stadium is only one part of the equation.
CAF inspections are now focusing on whether venues and supporting facilities can meet the operational demands of the continental tournament [Hafsa Abdiwahab Sheikh/Al Jazeera]
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have already gained experience from jointly hosting the 2024 African Nations Championship, which allowed the three countries to work together on a major continental tournament. CAF has also involved representatives from the three local organising committees in an observer mission at the recent AFCON in Morocco.
But AFCON will be a larger undertaking, with 24 national teams competing across the three countries for almost a month.
The coming months will determine whether the work under way across the three countries can be completed, verified and brought into operation before teams and supporters begin arriving.
For supporters in East Africa, the tournament represents more than a test of stadiums and infrastructure. It is also a chance to experience Africa’s biggest national-team competition on home soil.
Gilbert Okeya, a Kenyan football fan and Football Kenya Federation referee, told Al Jazeera:
“We are happy because we are going to host, and we are going to have an opportunity to have live matches for AFCON in our country.”
Fishlock, who has said this will be her last year playing club football, will be on duty with Reign when Wales go to Albania on Friday, 9 October and then again in the return leg in Llanelli four days later.
Should Wales overcome a side who are 36 places in the Fifa rankings – and one they beat twice in the group phase of World Cup qualifying – they will play either Norway or Romania in a two-legged play-off final in December.
Wilkinson has revealed that another recently retired former player, Kayleigh Barton, will be part of her staff for the Albania ties and then Fishlock will have a role should Wales reach the final.
Fishlock previously worked as a technical assistant for Wales’ opening game of this qualifying campaign, against the Czech Republic in March.
Wilkinson explained that Fishlock had been in touch before she named her semi-final squad on Tuesday, adding: “I didn’t appreciate her saying ‘call me up coach, I’m ready’, which I thought was mean, but [she was] a wonderful player and a great leader for us.
“If we are able to get past Albania, she’ll be coming in as a coach for us for the next round.”
Lewis was part of the Wales squad at the 2022 union World Cup and was set to play in the inaugural WXV tournament a year later.
But she suffered a serious knee injury as Wales beat Italy in the 2023 Six Nations.
Since her recovery Lewis has played for Brython Thunder in the Celtic Challenge but, with no WRU contract, felt she had unfinished business and “didn’t want any regrets”.
“I could have easily just walked away from rugby at that point. I could have just been like ‘I’m done’,” said Lewis.
“But internally, I knew I wasn’t, and I put so much time and effort into coming back and getting back fit, and I was only 28, and I was like, ‘I’ve still got so much time left’, and I just felt individually I didn’t deserve my time to be done based on someone else’s decision.
“So I took some time, and then I just set a goal to myself. If I got the opportunity to play rugby league, great.
“If I had the opportunity to play union, I wouldn’t say no. But this opportunity came up, and I just grabbed it with two hands, and hopefully now it’s paid off.”
Australia-born Jasmin Strange is one of four potential debutants in England’s 23-strong squad for the World Cup.
Sydney Roosters second-row forward Strange, who is set to play in Sunday’s NRLW Grand Final against Brisbane Broncos, has committed herself to England, for whom she qualifies through her mother Adele.
The 23-year-old is the daughter of Roosters women’s head coach John Strange, who played for Featherstone in the 1990s.
Strange is joined by three uncapped players – Leeds Rhinos’ Connie Boyd, Hope Millard of Canterbury Bulldogs, and Wigan Warriors’ Lucie Sams.
In addition to Strange and Millard, whose father Shane was a forward for Widnes, Leeds and Wigan, three other NRLW players have made the squad – including dual code international Fran Goldthorp, who last played rugby league for her country at the most recent World Cup in 2022.
Newcastle Knights’ Georgia Roche and Hollie-Mae Dodd of Canberra Raiders have also been included.
Strange’s inclusion as a heritage player – one who qualifies through parentage – comes after eligibility rules were relaxed this year.
An International Rugby League ruling means that players can now represent more than one of the three tier one nations – Australia, New Zealand and England.
That led to speculation that head coach Stu Barrow might call on more heritage players with NRLW experience – such as Roosters playmaker Jocelyn Kelleher, Bulldogs half-back Tayla Preston and Wests Tigers full-back Caitlin Turnbull.
But Barrow has said he wants to give homegrown players an opportunity to develop.
All three Woman of Steel nominees – Jenna Foubister, Eva Hunter and Megan Williams – have been selected, along with six of their Wigan team-mates. Grand Final winners York Valkyrie have one player in the squad in forward Liv Wood.
Loose forward Jodie Cunningham, who will retire after the World Cup, is selected along with St Helens team-mate Vicky Whitfield, who will be competing at her fourth World Cup.
Barrow said: “Narrowing our squad from 40 players to a final 23 has involved some difficult decisions, but we believe we have the right balance of experience and youth to compete on the world stage.
“It’s also an exciting moment for the programme with the inclusion of Australian-based heritage players for the first time.”
This year’s men’s, women’s and wheelchair World Cups will run concurrently, with England competing in all three. The wheelchair squad was announced last week, while the men’s squad will be confirmed on 5 October.
The tournaments are being staged largely in Australia, with Papua New Guinea’s men and women each playing two pool matches in their own country, and their New Zealand counterparts playing one.
England face three group matches – beginning in Perth against Wales on 17 October and Australia on 24 October, before facing Samoa in Wollongong on 30 October.
The top two sides in England’s four-team group will go through to the semi-finals on 7 and 8 November, with the final on 15 November.
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In the most bizarre of cricketing summers, Ben Duckett has had a bizarre summer of his own.
The only Englishman to compile a Test ton, and the scorer of 141 against India in a one-day international at Lord’s, ends with nine scores below 20 from his other 15 innings.
He was talked about as the world’s best all-format batter after his 149 against India last summer but has averaged 27.15 since then across formats.
It is right that England are reticent to drop a batter who has hit such highs, especially as a senior player and one with significant List A experience – a total of 111 matches – behind him in a squad still lacking in 50-over matches.
Duckett and Jacob Bethell also shared an opening stand of 192 in the series decider against India at Lord’s.
But, unlike the Test side where Emilio Gay’s place as Duckett’s partner is not fully secure, never mind a replacement waiting in the wings, Tom Banton and Bethell have shown there could be another world without the diminutive left-hander.
Bethell, who scored 91 in the third ODI against India before missing the Sri Lanka series with a knee injury, is talked of as a senior player in the group, despite still being just 22, while Banton’s first England century on Sunday was superb.
The way Banton hits the ball at the top of the bounce looks suited to the bouncy pitches of South Africa, where the majority of the World Cup will be played.
Duckett, in contrast, averages 23.4 on surfaces deemed as ‘high bouncing’ since the start of 2023. This winter’s Test series in South Africa may shed some more light.
World-ranked number 15 Northern Ireland’s emphatic 73-50 victory over Republic of Ireland in their final qualifier was not enough to secure one of the two qualification spots automatically.
However, Scotland’s narrow win over Wales in Sunday’s later game booked both teams spots with Wales, who are ranked ninth in the world, missing out.
“It was a real rollercoaster of a day,” O’Hanlon continued.
“Obviously we started out with a hard-fought win against the Republic of Ireland, but we knew that we were still relying on Scotland.
“That match was just up and down the whole way through, so we were nerve-wrecked watching that. Just sitting in the stands, not being able to control anything, was nerve-wracking.”
O’Hanlon was captain of the side when they finished 10th in the World Cup seven years ago.
But, now, the 42-year-old said the squad will head to Sydney with ambitions of competing for results rather than simply gaining experience.
“The last one we were at was in Liverpool and there was a lot of home support, but Sydney is the home of netball at the minute,” O’Hanlon added.
“Sydney is the centre of the best league in the world. It’ll be a brilliant spectacle and it’s just class to be a part of it.
“The group will be going into the games not just to experience, not just to learn, but to actually go on and compete and try to win games and get results. That’s the next step for us really.”
