The World Cup kicks off on November 20 as Qatar take on Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. The final will be held on December 18 at the Lusail Stadium. Thirty-two teams will be competing to dethrone holders France, who won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, defeating Croatia 4-2 in the final. This year’s World Cup is the first to be held in a Middle Eastern […]
INTERNATIONAL When protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, Samer al-Kurdi, a footballer for Al-Karamah in the central city of Homs, did not know he would lose everything. Kurdi left Al-Karamah, which translates to "dignity", to join the demonstrations and demand dignity. Abd al-Basset al-Sarout, the club’s goalkeeper, joined him in trading crowds of fans in the stands for crowds of protesters in the streets of Homs. 'The Syrian Football […]
The SA Football Association (Safa) suspects Bafana Bafana's defeat to Ghana in a crunch 2022 World Cup qualifier on Sunday night may have been fixed, and the sports body wants football governing body Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to investigate the conduct of the match officials. Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye and his colleagues Samba Elhadji Malick (assistant I), Camara Djibril (assistant II) and Gueye Daouda (fourth referee) […]
Pro-Palestinian activists in South Africa are demanding that Tokyo Sexwale resigns from FIFA, ahead of today’s FIFA Council meeting taking place in India. The politician and anti-apartheid activist is the head of FIFA’s Israel Palestine Monitoring Committee. A group of Palestinian solidarity organisations such as South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP), the Muslim Judicial Council and Kairos Southern Africa said FIFA has delayed in taking action against the […]
A decision on the future of Israeli football clubs based in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank has been postponed once again after a member vote at the FIFA Congress in Bahrain. The Palestine Football Association (PFA) argued that the presence of six Israeli football clubs playing inside settlements, that are seen as illegal under international law, are also in breach of FIFA statutes. PFA President Jibril Rajoub called […]
While the hunger strike of some 1500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention centres continues, another fight for Palestine is taking place in the sports arena. Following years of contestation against Israel’s continued acceptance into the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), activists in recent weeks have rallied around the world and urged the body not to remain complicit in the violation of human rights abuses by its member states. […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
