JOHANNESBURG World soccer governing body, FIFA, has given qualifying teams up to today to provide their lists of players to take part in the 2010 World Cup.FIFA said according to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Regulations, all 32 nations that qualified for the worlds biggest soccer fair were required to provide a list of up to 30 players by midnight today.
FIFA will publish this list at noon on May 13 on its official website, said FIFA.
The release of players on this list is mandatory as of May 17 2010. The deadline for the 32 teams to provide a final list of 23 players is June 1 2010 (midnight CET).
However, seriously injured players may be replaced up to 24 hours before the team’s first match.
Replacement players for injured players are not limited to the release list provided on 11 May. FIFA will publish the final list on 4 June (noon CET) on FIFA.com.
Africa will have six representatives in this years World Cup, which kicks off at Soccer City Stadium on June 11, with a Group A match between hosts South Africa and Mexico.
The final will be played a month later, on July 11 at the same venue and the usually under-performing Africans are hopeful of having a representative in that game if they are to live up to the hype that this years tournament is an African World Cup.
The best that Africa has done in the World Cup was when Cameroon and Senegal reached the quarter finals in 1990 and 2002, respectively.
This year, the continent will be represented by the hosts South Africa, regular campaigners Nigeria and Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Algeria.
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News