​Kenya sealed their place in the semifinals of the 2017 COSAFA Women’s Championships on Monday and in doing so booked a passage for tournament hosts Zimbabwe as well.  Kenya defeated Swaziland 1-0 to take top spot in Group B, a result that also meant that Group A runners-up Zimbabwe advanced as the best second-placed team.
 
The East Africans will now take on Zimbabwe in Thursday’s second semifinal at the Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo (16h00 local; 14h00 GMT), with Zambia and South Africa to contest the earlier fixture (13h00 local; 11h00 GMT) at the same venue.    

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The timetable of the athletics programme for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games has been published and, as was originally announced at the IAAF Council Meeting in Beijing in 2015, innovatively includes a cross-country element.

As has been the case since the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, there are two stages to each individual athletics discipline.
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In stage one of the 1500m, 3000m and 2000m steeplechase, all athletes will compete in a heat of their individual event. In the second stage of the competition, all athletes from those three events will compete in a combined 4-5km (distance tbc) cross-country event, one race for boys and one race for girls.

​South Africa continued their fine form after crushing Namibia 5-0 in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 qualifier on Sunday, 17 September 2017 at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg.
 
A brace by captain Linda Motlhalo as well as individual goals by Lelona Daweti, Lindokuhle Mbatha and Gabriela Salgado ensured Basetsana travel to Windhoek for the return leg with a comfortable five goal cushion. 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has today elected eight new Members as well as a new Vice-President and three new Members of its Executive Board during the IOC Session.

Ms Anita L. DeFrantz (USA), who joined the IOC in 1985, was elected as an IOC Vice-President. She already occupied this position from 1997 to 2001.

Dr Robin E. Mitchell, IOC member in Fiji, Mrs Nicole Hoevertsz, IOC member in Aruba, and Mr Denis Oswald, IOC member in Switzerland, were chosen by the Session to join the IOC Executive Board. They will serve a four-year term.
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Earlier in the day, the IOC Session elected eight new Members, who were proposed by the Executive Board in August.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today launched the Olympic Refuge Foundation, aimed at pursuing the work undertaken throughout the Olympic Movement over recent years to support refugees around the world. The creation of the Foundation is a further major initiative that has emerged from the strong and longstanding partnership between the IOC and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
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In a pledge to raise awareness of the magnitude of the refugee crisis - the UNHCR estimates that more than 65 million people have been forced from their homes by war, famine and other man-made and natural disasters - the IOC created the first Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympic Games Rio 2016. The team acted as a symbol of hope and peace for refugees across the globe. They inspired the world with the strength of their human spirit.

​Ethiopia and Kenya played out a two-all draw in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 qualifier First Round first leg on Sunday, 17 September 2018, in Hawassa.
 
The Junior Lucys’ threw away a two-goal cushion as a spirited fight from the visiting Junior Starlets saw them earn a 2-2 away draw.

Morocco v Tunisia, 2017 FIBA AfroBasket Final Round, Tunis(TUN), Semi Finals, 15 September 2017
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TUNIS (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Tunisia forward Mohamed Hadidane on Friday came up with a performance for the ages as they beat Morocco 60-52 and set up a FIBA AfroBasket 2017 Final against Nigeria who beat Senegal 76-71. 

Hadidane scored 15 of his game-high 22 points from behind the arc, grabbed six rebounds, and as a result Tunisia - who organized the tournament in 1987 and 2015 - reached the African Championship Final for the first time as hosts.

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18 SEPTEMBER 2017: Day nine of the 2017 WAFU Cup of Nations produced joy for Nigeria who progressed into the semfinals and heartache for Guinea and Mali who exited the competition.
 
The Super Eagles had to win in order to progress further in the tournament and they did just that with second half goals from Anthony Okpotu and Peter Moses handing the Super Eagles a 2-0 win over hosts Ghana at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium on Monday, 18 September 2017. 

​The Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) from 11-15 September 2017 organized a course for Young Talent Referees in Cairo, Egypt, to equip them and prepare them for the challenges ahead.
 
The five-day course was to prepare the participants with the requisite knowledge, provide guidance on modern trends in refereeing and also gauge their readiness for international competitions namely the U-20 & U-17 Africa Cup of Nations due next year.

​A doubt for most of the week, striker Yannick Zakri showed just why Mamelodi Sundowns needed him, scoring a 70th minute winner as the holders beat Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco 1-0 in the quarter final first leg on Sunday in Pretoria. 
 
Zakri came on at the beginning of the second half in the place of Sibusiso Vilakazi, with his goal a massive return on investment since his move from Ivorian giants, ASEC Mimosas last year.

​Holders TP Mazembe moved a step closer towards a semis spot after a 2-1 away win over Hilal Obeid in their first leg quarter final clash on Saturday in Obeid.
 
Striker Ben Malango scored in either half as the DR Congo giants bounced back from a Kevin Mondeko early own goal, to grab a first leg cushioning and keep alive their hopes of a successful defence of the second-tier continental club championship title.

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FIFA has launched its latest Big 5 Transfer Window Analysis report. This report is a summary of the activity in the International Transfer Matching System (ITMS) during the summer 2017 registration period, with a focus on the official international transfer figures for the Big 5 countries (England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain).
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Between 1 June and 1 September 2017, 7,590 international transfers were completed worldwide. Global spending reached USD 4.71 billion, meaning clubs spent almost as much during those three months as they had in the whole of 2016 (USD 4.79 billion). Once again, clubs from the Big 5 took centre stage, completing 21.2 per cent of the total incoming transfers and spending 77.9 per cent of the total global spend. 

A last gasp equalizer by Fabrice Kanda earned Ferroviario da Beira a one-all draw against visiting USM Alger in their quarter final first leg clash on Saturday in Beira.

‘Locomotiva’ were trailing by a Oussama Darfalou second half opener, before Kanda struck a minute from time to restore hope for the Mozambican champions ahead of the return leg in Algiers next weekend.

Missing defensive pair, Mambucho and Amorim, who were both suspended, Ferroviario struggled in the opening minutes of the closely fought encounter.

​Esperance return to their base with their heads high, after holding record winners, Al Ahly of Egypt to 2-2 draw away in the quarter final first leg on Saturday in Alexandria.
 
The “Blood and Gold” now have the advantage as a goalless draw in the reverse next weekend will be enough to see them through to the last four.
 
The exciting game was a rollercoaster affair, with hosts Ahly taking the lead from the spot through Abdullah El Said after ten 10 minutes, only for Taha Yassin Khenissi to find the equalizer on 23 minutes. 

Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon confirmed their superiority with convincing wins in the First Round first leg matches of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 qualifiers over the weekend.
 
Cameroon were the biggest winners thanks to a 9-0 drubbing of Guinea away in Conakry on Saturday whilst Nigeria made light work of Tanzania with a 3-0 win in Benin City. Earlier on Friday, Ghana’s Black Princesses proved too strong for host Algeria, handing them a 5-0 beating in Algiers.

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The Musee de l’Homme, located on Paris’ famous Place du Trocadero, hosted the launch of the Official Emblem and Slogan of the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ today. FIFA President Gianni Infantino and French Football Federation (FFF) and Local Organising Committee (LOC) President Noel le Graet were joined by the current French women’s national football squad at the official unveiling event. 

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• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the only African player among the 24 nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2017
• George Weah is Africa's only person to have been named FIFA's best player, in 1995
• The Liberian is one of many stars from the continent who admirers of the Gabonese' skills

It has been 22 years since an African player was last recognised as the world’s greatest, with Liberia’s George Weah picking up the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1995. While Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o came in third in 2005 and Côte d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba was fourth two years later, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have proved untouchable in the last decade, winning the award five times apiece. 

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Cote d’Ivoire have signed an agreement to host bilateral Games as part of efforts to boost the existing friendship between the two countries.

The maiden edition of the Games would be held in September 2018 in the capital city, Accra.

Selected sporting disciplines for the event would be Track and Field, Badminton, Table Tennis, Weightlifting, Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Taekwondo.

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As the world of football counts down to the reveal of the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ official emblem and slogan – in Paris on 19 September – we are interviewing major figures from the women’s game about the history, the present and the future of the Women’s World Cup.
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Only a select band of footballers experience the sensation of playing at a major tournament in their homeland – and Karina LeBlanc became one of them when she was called up to represent her country as a reserve goalkeeper for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The country’s most-capped custodian retired from international football after the competition before hanging up her boots altogether at the end of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) season in September 2015. 

Slugging her way through the 2017 US Open Tennis Championships in New York Sloane Stephens who put it best herself … her path to her success this year and to the top of women’s Tennis has been fraught with difficulties but those hard times have now been validated not just by the hard work that she has put in especially so this year but by winning the US Open Championship women’s title.
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Coming back from foot surgery Sloane who was ranked in the 900’s was able to slowly climb her way back to respectability with a couple of Slam Semi Finals in Toronto and Cincinnati and eventually the US Open Trophy and title.

6 Michael Mokongo (CAF) - Central African Republic v Morocco, 2017 FIBA AfroBasket Final Round, Dakar(SEN), Group Phase, 8 September 2017

DAKAR (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - The Central African Republic (CAF) will face Uganda on Saturday without playmaker Michael Mokongo, the team announced.
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Mokongo fell over an opponent, hurting his knee in Friday's 76-66 defeat to Morocco.

​Trophy Tour

• The FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola begins in Moscow
• Fans from over 50 countries to see the Trophy
• Tour set to visit 15 cities in Russia from September to December 2017

What could be more exciting for a fan than laying their eyes on football’s most coveted prize for the first time? This dream is about to come true for many followers of the beautiful game, as the FIFA World Cup Original Trophy begins its long tour around the globe. 

Ben Stevens starred with bat and ball as Jersey defeated Vanuatu in the final of the ICC WCL Division 5 on the last day of competition in Benoni, South Africa.
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The Channel Island side, who guaranteed promotion to Division 4 on Thursday with victory in the semi-finals to kick-start their 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign, made a steady 255 with the bat – with Stevens’ composed 86 the backbone of the innings.

15 Youssoupha Ndoye (SEN) - Egypt v Senegal, 2017 FIBA AfroBasket Final Round, Dakar(SEN), Group Phase, 9 September 2017
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DAKAR/TUNIS (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Morocco on Saturday night made history by beating former African champions Angola for the first time in 37 years.  

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Joyciline Jepkosgei broke the world 10km record* at the Birell Prague Grand Prix, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on Saturday (9).
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The 23-year-old Kenyan clocked 29:43 to smash through the 30-minute barrier and break her own record of 30:04, also set in the Czech capital, at the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon on 1 April. The performance marked the fifth world record of the year for Jepkosgei, who broke four --10km, 15km, 20km and the half marathon-- en route to her victory at the Prague Half Marathon.