Barcelona officials headed to France on Tuesday for talks with Paris Saint-Germain to seal a return to the Spanish club for Brazilian star Neymar, reports said. The club s director for football, retired French international Eric Abidal, and two other top club officials few to Paris to meet with their Paris Saint-Germain counterparts, Catalan radio Rac1 and Catalan television TV3 reported. "The breakthrough is significant as PSG had up until now refused to meet with Barcelona emissaries but it does not mean that the deal is close," Rac1 wrote on its website. The deal which the Barcelona officials will propose could include other players such as Philippe Coutinho or Ivan Rakitic, it added. Paris Saint-Germain revealed on Saturday that Neymar transfer talks are "more advanced than before" after the Brazilian was dropped for the French champions opening Ligue 1 match. Sporting director Leonardo confirmed to reporters that the Brazilian was near the exit door but that PSG were "not yet ready to give their approval" for the transfer. Real Madrid or a return to Barcelona are the most likely destinations for the world s most expensive footballer, won two La Liga titles and the 2015 Champions League in four years with the Catalan side. Sports newspaper AS has reported that Neymar has been offered to Madrid by PSG, who are open to selling if they can either recoup the 222 million euros ($249 million) they spent on him in 2017 or receive half that amount with players included in the deal. But Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo says that he would prefer a move back to Catalonia to play alongside former teammates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Egypt s Ahly kicked off their bid to win the African Champions League for the first time since 2013 with an easy 4-0 win over South Sudan s Atlabara in the first leg of the preliminary round on Sunday. Moroccan striker Walid Azaro scored twice and wasted a slew of goal-scoring chances as Ahly put one foot in the second round. In-form Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul, Ahly s best performer last season, converted a 17th-minute penalty to put them ahead and substitute Ahmed El-Sheikh put the icing on the cake with a stoppage-time goal. Although the match was played at Alexandria s Borg El-Arab Stadium, it was Ahly s away fixture as both sides agreed to play both legs in the Mediterranean city. As expected, Ahly dominated the early proceedings and they went ahead via a precise spot-kick from Maaloul after central midfielder Amr El-Sulaya was fouled in the area. Azaro almost scored a beauty a few minutes later but his brilliant overhead kick struck the crossbar. He made amends on 32 minutes with an easy tap-in after some good work from winger Hussein El-Shahat down the right flank. Azaro, who is often criticised by Ahly s faithful for his wastefulness, squandered some easy chances, including hitting the ball wide with the goal at his mercy. But he scored again three minutes into the second half, with his tame header spilled by the keeper into the net. El-Sheikh completed the rout two minutes into the injury time with a simple finish after skipping past his challenger in the area.

Zamalek s new coach will be unveiled on Tuesday, the club president has said, adding that the club is considering six candidates, including a second term for Jesualdo Ferreira of Portugal. "We settled on six candidates...All the candidates are top level coaches," Mansour said in a video published in his Facebook page on Saturday. "The last negotiations were with the club s former coach [Jesualdo] Ferreira who welcomed taking the charge but starting from next October for personal reasons. Ferreira led the team to the domestic double in the 2014/2015 season. "The fans are asking for Ferreira s return as he previously won the league and Cup titles," he added. "The choosing of the new coach will be on Tuesday. I invited all the club s icons to attend a meeting with the board members to discuss the selection and choose the coach," Mansour said. "We reached agreement with all of the six candidates who all know the value of Zamalek. When the board and the icons settle on the name we will announce it immediately and he will be starting his mission in just two days," he added. Khaled Galal was sacked earlier this month after a 1-0 loss to rivals Ahly in the Cairo derby and the loss of the Egyptian premier league title. Former Zamalek star Tarek Yehia was made caretaker coach until a new coach is appointed. Ferreira, 73, became a fan favourite after guiding the team to their first league title first since 2004, and following that with a Cup victory. He resigned seven months into his term, in November 2015, after a reported dispute with Mansour. Recent reports claim that Zamalek have already reached an agreement with Argentinean coach Ramon Diaz, who delivered outstanding results last season with Egyptian club Pyramids FC. "Diaz is among the six candidates and the final decision will be made at Tuesday s meeting," Mansour concluded. Zamalek finished second in the Egyptian Premier League this season, and won the continental-level Confederation Cup. The White Knights still have the chance to fight for more titles, the Egypt Cup and the CAF Super Cup, in addition to last season s edition of the Egypt Super Cup.

Zamalek has had their request approved to postpone the team s first match in the African Champions League against Somalia s Dekadaha from 11 to 16 August, according to local reports published on Thursday. The Whites have requested earlier to play their match against the Somali champions at Petrosport stadium, but was refused by the security authorities since the game coincides with the first day of Eid Al-Adha holiday. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided to play the first and second leg matches between Zamalek and Dekadaha in Egypt, upon the Somali club request. Zamalek officials were reportedly contacted by Dekadaha s officials to postpone the match for a week, which the Somali club welcomed. The second-leg match is scheduled to be held on 23, 24, or 25 August. CAF Confederation Cup champions Zamalek were supposed to play the CAF Super Cup game on 16, 17, or 18 August against the winner of the African Champions League, but the match was postponed to a later date by CAF.

Gareth Bale s stand-off with Real Madrid continued on Wednesday after the forward was left out of Zinedine Zidane s squad to face Red Bull Salzburg in a friendly. Bale has only played in two of Real Madrid s five pre-season games so far, coming on as a substitute against Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, and has now been left out completely for a third fixture in a row. James Rodriguez and Mariano Diaz, who are both expected to be sold, were also not included for the match in Austria. Zidane has made clear that Bale is not in his plans as he looks to rejuvenate Real Madrid following their miserable season last term. The club are keen to sign Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, with Tottenham s Christian Eriksen and Ajax youngster Donny van de Beek potential alternatives. But Madrid first need to raise funds, after already spending around 300 million euros ($336 million) this summer. Zidane said last month that Bale being sold would be "best for everyone", while Bale s agent Jonathan Barnett told AFP: "Zidane is a disgrace - he shows no respect for a player that has done so much for Real Madrid." Bale is in no rush to leave the Santiago Bernabeu, where he has a contract until 2022, worth around 18 million euros a year. He agreed terms with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning last month but the move was called off after Madrid failed to agree a fee for the 30-year-old. Bayern Munich retain an interest but any deal would be hugely expensive, making it increasingly likely Bale will remain at Madrid for the start of the La Liga season next weekend.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) denied on Tuesday the alleged rumors about Cairo International Stadium hosting the Egypt Super Cup final between Ahly and Zamalek scheduled for 18th September. "We didn t settle on a stadium for the game yet. We can t hold the game at Cairo stadium as it s still under maintenance," said the EFA s Media and Communication Manager Osama Ismail in an official statement. One day before the beginning of the 2019-2020 season, the Egyptian giants Ahly and Zamalek will be facing each other in order to play the 2017-2018 season s Egypt Super Cup one day before the beginning of the 2019-2020 season. Cairo stadium hosted many games during the recent Africa Cup of Nations including the opening and the final match between Algeria and Senegal on 19th July. EFA announced earlier that the stadium will host the Egyptian giants matches in the upcoming season after the maintenance work is finished.

After sacking the team s technical staff, Zamalek chairman Mortada Mansour announced Sunday that he will unveil the name of the new foreign coach by the end of this week. Zamalek management has sacked the team s technical staff headed by Khaled Galal after losing to Ahly 1-0 in the Cairo Derby and losing the Egyptian Premier league title. The Whites icon Tarek Yehia has been named as Zamalek s caretaker coach for one week until management concludes negotiations with a foreign coach to lead the team in the new season. Reports in Egyptian media claimed that Zamalek management is in talks with foreign coaches including Argentinean coach Ramon Diaz and Madagascar coach Frenchman Nicolas Dupuis. The reports also confirmed that Ramon Diaz, the former coach of Pyramids FC, welcomed the deal to coach Zamalek in the new season, however negotiations are still underway. "Zamalek s football supervisor Amir Mortada Mansour prepares to travel to one of the European countries to negotiate with another foreign coach," the club s president told a television programme last week. Zamalek finished second placed in the Egyptian Premier League, although the team won the Confederations Cup at the continental level. The White Knights still have the chance to fight for more titles, i.e. the Egypt Cup and the CAF Super Cup, to add to their title win against Masry in the 2018 Egyptian Super Cup.

Egyptian champions Ahly have a difficult test in front of them when they face Atlabara FC of South Sudan next week in the preliminary round of the African Champions League, according to assistant coach Mohamed Youssef. The Reds will host the South Sudanese champions in the first leg of the preliminary round of 64 on 11 August, while the return leg will be played in Egypt also on 24 of the same month. "The match will be a difficult one as the opponent is a mysterious team for us, so we ll work hard to study their weaknesses and strengths to get the best preparation," Youssef was quoted saying by Ahly s official website on Sunday. "Facing anonymous is always full of dangers, the technical staff eye the best preparations to avoid surprises. We respect all our opponents at both the domestic and the continental levels, and we enter all matches with full concentration.” "The first leg is very important for us. We want to win it and achieve a positive result ahead of the return match," he added. The return match will also be played in Egypt upon the request of Atlabara officials as their stadium is currently under renovations, and that will be in the sake of Ahly according to Youssef. "Playing both matches in Egypt is a positive thing for us as we will avoid the fatigue of traveling to South Sudan. So we want to get the best use of that to ensure our place in the next round early," the Ahly assistant coach Youssef concluded. Ahly, who recently clinched their 41st domestic league title, were eliminated from the quarter final of the Champions League last season after losing 5-1 on aggregate to South African side Mamelodi Sundowns.

After the Confederation of African Football (CAF) closed the players registration list late on Wednesday, Ahram Online combined the African squad of Egyptian Premier League giants Ahly and Zamalek ahead of their participation in the CAF Champions League. The Egyptian Premier League champions Ahly have signed three players during the ongoing summer transfer window including playmaker Mohamed Magdi, better known as Afsha coming from Pyramids FC, defender Mahmoud Metwalli who was signed from Ismaily and Malian attacking midfielder Aliou Dieng. Meanwhile, the leagues runners-up Zamalek also named all their newly signed players in the team s African squad including former full back Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, forward Karim Bambo who joined the team from Ismaily, Moroccan winger Achraf Bencharki and Moroccan winger Mohammed Ounajem. The next Champions League will be historic as an August-to-May season is introduced and the final is reduced from two legs to one match at a neutral venue. There will also be a record 14 previous winners involved, including eight-time trophy-holders Ahly of Egypt. The 2020 CAF Champions League preliminary round ties to kick off on 9 August as Ahly will face Atlabara FC of South Sudan while Zamalek will play Dekedaha FC of Somalia. Ahly 26-player African squad: Goalkeepers: Mohamed El-Shenawy, Ali Lotfi, Sherif Ekramy Defenders: Ramy Rabia, Mahmoud Metwali, Yasser Ibrahim, Ayman Ashraf, Mahmoud Wahid, Ali Maaloul, Ahmed Fathi, Mohamed Hany Midfielders: Aliou Dieng, Hamdi Fathi, Amr El-Sulaya, Hossam Ashour, Saleh Gomaa, Mohamed Magdy Afsha , Walid Soliman, Ahmed El-Sheikh, Hussein El-Shahat, Ramadan Sobhi, Geraldo da Costa, Junior Ajayi Strikers: Walid Azaro, Marwan Mohsen, Salah Mohsen Zamalek s 25-player African squad: Goalkeepers: Mohamed Awad, Mohamed Abo Gabal Defenders: Hazem Emam, Hamdi Nagguez, Mahmoud Alaa, Mohamed Abdel-Ghany, Mahmoud Hamdi El-Wensh , Mohamed Abdel-Salam, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, Abdallah Gomaa Midfielders: Tarek Hamed, Ferjani Sassi, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Mohamed Hassan, Yousef Ibrahim Obama , Achraf Bencharki, Mostafa Fathi, Ayman Hefny, Mohamed Antar, Ahmed Sayed Zizo , Karim Bambo, Mahmoud Abdel-Razek Shikabala Strikers: Khaled Boutaib, Omar El-Said, Mostafa Mohamed

Zamalek President Mortada Mansour held a press conference on Wednesday at the White Knights club to announce the team s new arrivals. He introduced the return to the team s former full back Mohamed Abdel-Shafy from Saudi Arabia s Al-Ahli, and striker Mostafa Mohamed from loan at Talae El-Geish. He also introduced Ismaily s forward Karim Bambo, Maqassa s attacking midfielder Islam Gaber, Moroccan winger Achraf Bencharki coming from the Saudi Al-Hilal, and his fellow Moroccan winger Mohammed Ounajem coming from Wydad Casablanca. Mansour also announced that the Tunisian midfielder Ferjani Sassi, as well as the Egyptian national team stars Mahmoud Alaa and Tarek Hamed will stay with the Cairo giants, stressing that "they re not for sale." He also revealed that the team s winger, Ahmed Madbouly, will be leaving the team to join Ismaily SC. Mansour opened the press conference by attacking the former coach of the team the Swiss Christian Gross, accusing him of being the main cause for Zamalek s loss of the league title this season to archrivals Ahly. Earlier this week, Zamalek finished the season in second place eight points behind Ahly despite leading in the standings table for most of the season. "Gross lost the league by wasting points from easy matches, despite having [equally strong] players and substitutes in each position in the formation," said Mansour. Mansour refuted rumours that Zamalek former star Mahmoud Abdel-Razek Shikabala would be offered a managerial position in the team, but said the 33-year-old international winger would be joining the team s squad as a player in this upcoming season. Zamalek president also introduced the team s three new goalies: Mohamed Awad from Ismaily, Mohamed Abo Gabal from Smouha, and Mohamed Sobhy from Petrojet. Zamalek has been missing the services of their primary goalie Mahmoud Abdel-Rehem Gennesh , who suffered a serious injury earlier this month. Mansour sold the team s other two goalkeepers, Omar Salah and Emad El-Sayed, earlier in the week. After announcing the 10 new arrivals, Mansour explained that the team is still negotiating to hire a new coach and also sign more players. "There is a possibility of announcing one or two new signings today, but we didn t close those deals yet. The new coach will be a happy surprise for the fans," Zamalek president concluded.

Ahly announced on Tuesday the signing of Ismaily s defender Mahmoud Metwally on a five-year contract, according to Ahly s official website. "The deal costed Ahly 15 million Egyptian pounds, 10 million has been paid already, and 5 million will be in installments," Ahly Marketing and Football Contracts Director Amir Tawfik told Radio Hits on Tuesday. "We ve been watching Metwally for a while now. He s not only technically good, he also has great character," He added.

Ahram Online has collected reactions from players and the teams technical staff members following Ahly s 1-0 victory over rivals Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League s final round on Sunday. Despite a slow start for the season, Ahly were crowned league champions last Wednesday after beating Arab Contractors 3-1, but their victory against rivals Zamalek added more woes for the Whites fans. Ahly full back Ali Maaloul "Scoring in a derby against Zamalek is very important, and my goal is a gift to Ahly fans." "Defeating Zamalek is a magnificent closure for the Egyptian league competition." Ahly winger Hussein El-Shahat "Ahly s camp contributed to increase the positive aspects, and we achieved what we desired at the end." "The victory against Zamalek and winning the league is our gift to the fans. The future will be better and we promise the supporters to win the Champions League." Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawi "I m happy with my performance in the game. Now we will concentrate on achieving the African Champions League which is our main target for the upcoming period." "Ahly is a champion team, and beating Zamalek was important to raise the point difference." Ahly general coach Mohamed Youssef "Concentration is the secret behind our performance today. The players showed high levels of concentration and commitment." "Clinching the title comes in its best shape after defeating the arch rival, especially when initially we were very late in the league table. I congratulate the players, the board, and Ahly fans." Ahly football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz "Our comeback in the league was due to Ahly s character and history." "Egypt Cup is not a very important competition to the big teams, but this doesn t mean that we won t compete seriously. We will try to win the double." Zamalek goalkeeper Emad El-Sayed "I apologize to Zamalek fans for the mistake which caused the goal." Zamalek football supervisor Amir Mortada "The league s instability affected Zamalek negatively more than any other team."

Demoralized after allowing Ahly to snatch the Egyptian Premier League title from under their noses, Zamalek will be looking to restore their pride when they meet their foes in the Cairo derby on the final day of the season on Sunday. Ahly won the premier domestic competition for the fourth successive season on Wednesday after easily beating Arab Contractors 3-1, completing a remarkable comeback after they were written off by many at the halfway stage after falling eight points behind their rivals. Zamalek have only themselves to blame after a series of disappointing results in the second half of the season, including two consecutive draws in the final stage after they opted not to renew the contract of Swiss boss Christian Gross, handing the reins to rookie coach Khaled Galal instead. There is at least some room for consolation, however, when Zamalek meet Ahly at Alexandria s Borg El-Arab Stadium. Last season, Zamalek defeated the Red Devils 2-1 when the latter were already crowned champions. "Coach Galal asked the players to put the league loss behind them and focus consoling their fans by winning the coming game against Ahly," Zamalek said on their official website. Ahly would be also keen to assert their dominance and win the derby, with Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte criticized by many fans for failing to prevail in any high-profile match since his arrival in January. The team played out a bore 0-0 draw with Zamalek in the first derby of the season in March, lost twice to big-spending Pyramids and drew twice with Ismaily. "I have the utmost confidence in my players that they can separate the league triumph from the match against Zamalek, which will still be special," Ahly s football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz said. "We are still motivated to win this game and finish the league in the best possible way." Zamalek will miss forward Youssef Ibrahim, who is serving the second of a three-game suspension. Ahly almost have a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Egypt s football team has advanced nine places this July to rank 49th on Thursday according to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) July rankings. Egypt ranked sixth among the African teams after earning 47 points in the July rankings. Senegal leads the African teams standing in 20th place worldwide while the champion of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Algeria jumped 38 places to rank 40th worldwide and fourth among the African countries. The top ten African teams were Senegal (20th), Tunisia (29th), Nigeria (33rd), Algeria (40th), Morocco (41st), Egypt (49th), Ghana (50th), Cameroon (53rd), Democratic Republic of the Congo (56th), and Côte d Ivoire (57th). The draw for the 2022 World Cup will be held on Monday at the African Union headquarters in Cairo. Egypt will start ranked at the top of the playing group during the second phase of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. CAF announced a new system for World Cup qualification. The system exempts the 26 highest-ranking FIFA teams from playing in the preliminary qualifiers, leaving 28 national teams to compete for qualification. Of the 28 teams, the 14 highest-ranking FIFA teams will play against the lowest-ranking teams. During this first leg, the lowest-ranking FIFA teams will play at home. The second round of qualifiers is the group stage, in which the 14 teams that qualified during the preliminary round will join the exempted 26 teams. The 40 teams will be divided into 10 groups of four teams. The 40 teams will be divided into four levels according to the FIFA ranking. Each of the 10 groups will include a team from each level. The third phase is the knockout stage in which the ten winning teams from the group stage will be divided into two levels according to their FIFA rankings. The five highest-ranking teams will play against the five lowest-ranking teams, with lowest-ranking teams playing at home.

English football club Aston Villa officially announced on Wednesday that Egyptian international and Kasimpasa Turkish club player Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet has been signed on. “We are delighted to confirm the signing of Trezeguet from Kasimpasa for an undisclosed fee, subject to a work visa and international clearance,” Aston Villa said in a Facebook post. The 24-year-old footballer started his career with Al-Ahly in Egypt before moving to Europe to sign for Anderlecht. He enjoyed a further loan stint with Mouscron in Belgium prior to a switch to Turkey, according to the Aston Villa s official statement. Head Coach of Aston Villa Dean Smith said “We re really excited to work with Trez . I ve watched him a number of times. He s the type of wide player that we have been looking for who is direct, causes problems for the opposition in the final third and scores goals.”

Zamalek forward Yousef Obama Ibrahim and Gouna s defender Mahmoud El-Gazar were suspended for three matches, each for disciplinary reasons by the Egyptian football association s competition committee on Tuesday. The committee also decided to impose a EGP5,000 fine on each of both players for hitting the opponent without a ball according to the committee s statement. Clashes erupted between Zamalek and Gouna players after the Whites scored the equalizier in the dying minutes of Sunday s 2-2 league draw. Zamalek were in need for the victory against Gouna to continue the race for the league title, which caused the tension between the two teams. The Egyptian league leaders Ahly are a step closer to win the title after Zamalek s draw, as the Red Castle only need to defeat Arab Contractors on Wednesday to be named the champion. Zamalek are now third place in the league s table with 69 points, while Ahly leads the league with 74 points.

After a 2-2 draw with Gouna in the Egyptian Premier League on Sunday, Zamalek s president has confirmed that some players don t deserve to wear the white s jersey, confirming he will decide the coach s future after the end of the league. "The players have been evaluated, and there are some players who do not deserve to play in the team, and they will be leaving within a few days, but I won t name them until the end of league," Zamalek president revealed in remarks for Mehwar TV channel. "Zamalek s technical staff will have another chance in the next two matches. I hope we play them properly," he added. The White Castle had a training camp in Cyprus during the temporary suspension period of the Egyptian league due to the Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Egypt. "The team had a training camp abroad upon the request of the technical staff, so there s no excuse to appear like that in the matches," Zamalek s president explained. Zamalek scored the first goal from Tarek Hamed s screamer in the 64th minute, then Gouna substitutes, Ahmed Rayan and Mahmoud El-Shabrawi, turned over the game by scoring two goals in the 78th and 88th minutes respectively, before Zamalek s substitute Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz equalizes with a header seven minutes into stoppage time. Zamalek is now third place in the league s table with 69 points, while Ahly leads the league with 74 points. Ahly will win the league officially if they win Wednesday s match against Arab Contractors.

Antoine Griezmann admitted on Sunday that he was moved to tears of happiness when his big-money move to Barcelona finally came through after a controversial exit from former club Atletico Madrid. The World Cup winner is in Tokyo with Barca ahead of a clash with Chelsea on Tuesday after the La Liga giants shelled out 120 million euros ($135 million) to match his release clause amid a blistering row between the player and the two clubs. "I called my father and I started crying with joy because the transfer was all done, it all was over," Griezmann said in an interview with sports daily Marca. "I was with my friends, with my wife, with my children and it was an incredible moment." The 28-year-old added he was targeting European glory with Barcelona after two humiliating exits for the Catalans from the Champions League in the last two years -- to Roma and Liverpool -- after throwing away commanding first-leg leads. "If you ask the fans, they will tell you (they want to win) all three titles (La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey), and that goes for the players and the leaders too, and me too," he said. "We have a team to win everything. It s difficult but we will have to work for it." Shortly after Barca had announced the signing of Griezmann, Atletico complained they and the Frenchman had negotiated the deal before the buy-out price dropped from 200 million euros at the start of July, adding that they had already "begun appropriate procedures" to defend their "rights and legitimate interests". Spanish media claim that Atletico will go to FIFA to argue that Barca owe them more than the fee they eventually paid earlier this month. Griezmann almost signed with Barcelona a year ago but instead opted in June 2018 to sign a new five-year deal at the Wanda Metropolitano. But in May this year he announced he would be leaving at the end of the season, with Atletico claiming he told them of a deal with Barca before a 3-0 defeat to Juventus which dumped them out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage. Griezmann scored 133 goals in 257 appearances for Atletico since he joined them in 2014 from Basque club Real Sociedad, who scouted the attacker when he was just 14. He helped Atletico lift the Europa League in 2018 and won the World Cup with France last year. He was top scorer at Euro 2016 despite hosts France losing in the final to Portugal.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has rejected comments that the global soccer body has taken a "colonialist" attitude towards African football and its governing organisation CAF (Confederation of African Football). FIFA last month took the unprecedented move of announcing it would jointly administer African football with CAF and would send it its Senegalese secretary general Fatma Samoura on a ninth-month secondment to overhaul the African body. The move followed corruption allegations against CAF president Ahmad Ahmad which he has denied. Some African officials have opposed the move while former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in a recent interview with the BBC, described it as a "new aspect of colonialism". Blatter has been banned from football for six years for ethics violations during his presidency. He denies wrongdoing. "I have heard about colonialism, that FIFA is colonising Africa again," Infantino told CAF s general assembly on Thursday, adding that he was "puzzled" by the remarks. "What does it mean, colonialism? I don t know. It s not part of my vocabulary. "I know what it means to work, to team up, to roll up your sleeves, to go on the pitch and help and that is what we are doing," he added. "(Samoura s) heart is beating for Africa and we all suffer when we see what is going on here." Infantino said that it was important that African football had competitions where "people trust the organisation, where the stadium is secure and it is safe, where matches are not manipulated, where people trust the referees -- these are some of the issues that African football is facing." Infantino added that CAF needed to think about growing the sport in the region without depending on FIFA handouts. "The point is to generate revenues for African football from Africa," he said. Ahmad was reported in March to FIFA s ethics committee by CAF general secretary Amr Fahmy, who was then fired. Further allegations of fraud have recently been made against Ahmad, who was detained and questioned by French authorities in June as part of a corruption investigation. Ahmad has denied wrongdoing in several media interviews but has not responded to repeated requests by Reuters for comment on the specific allegations against him. The CAF Champions League final, played in May, remains unresolved after one team walked off the pitch in protest at a refereeing decision while the Africa Cup of Nations has been played against a backdrop of empty stadiums in Egypt. Ahmad, in a speech to the assembly, said it was his decision to ask for FIFA s help. "When I went to ask for help, I found a man (Infantino) well aware of the problems of Africa, I found a man who loves Africa and his behaviour proves it," he said.

The finals of Africa s two international club competitions will each be played in one single match in future rather than over two legs as at present, the president of the region s governing soccer body said on Wednesday. Ahmad Ahmad, head of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), said both the CAF Champions League final and the CAF Confederations Cup finals would consist of a single match, following the European model. "Huge decision that CAF took today: the (finals) will be now played on a single game," he said on Twitter without giving further details. CAF vice-president Amaju Pinnick said the details were still being ironed out. "We are working on that", he told reporters. However, supporters quickly pointed out on social media that conditions in Africa, with vast distances, poor transport infrastructure and a lack of budget airlines, are very different from Europe and the matches risked being played in empty stadiums. In 1994, CAF decided to play its annual Supercup match -- between the Champions League and Confederations Cup winners -- at a neutral venue in South Africa. Two Egyptian teams qualified and travelled thousands of kilometres to play in front of a handful of supporters in Johannesburg. CAF said that at the time that it had been a mistake to play at a neutral venue and the fixture has since been played at the home ground of the Champions League winners. This year s two-leg Champions League final ended in chaos when Wydad Casablanca of Morocco refused to play on after having a 59th-minute effort disallowed in the return leg of the final in Tunis against Esperance. Esperance were initially declared winners but that decision was overturned by CAF s executive committee which ordered a replay. Both clubs have subsequently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), each arguing they should be declared winners.

Zamalek have signed Moroccan forward Achraf Bencharki on a three-year contract, club president Mortada Mansour revealed early on Tuesday. "Bencharki signed the contracts today. He will arrive in Egypt on Wednesday to complete the deal procedures and join us in preparation for the coming season," the White Castle s chairman told Mehwar TV channel. In January 2018, the 24-year-old Bencharki joined Saudi club Al-Hilal from Moroccan giants Wydad Athletic before moving to the French club RC Lens, where he spent the previous season on loan. Bencharki, who also plays as a left winger, made 23 league appearances with Lens last season, scoring 3 goals. Bencharki played a big role in securing the CAF Champions League title for former team Wydad Athletic in 2017, after scoring the equalizer in the final s first leg, ending the match with a 1-1 draw against Egypt s Ahly in Cairo. Hosts Wydad won the second leg 1-0 to clinch the African prestigious title. Zamalek s president also revealed that the team may send the Moroccan forward Hamid Ahddad out on loan or include him in a swap deal. "We signed four more players who are coming from the Egyptian national team squad. I ll be announcing their names after the end of the Egyptian Premier League," he added. Zamalek currently places third in the Egyptian League table with 68 points, with three matches left. The EPL matches will be resumed after the current Africa Cup of Nations, which will end on Friday. Zamalek s next game will be against Gouna FC on Sunday.