Egypt's Abou-Treika shortlisted for best African-based player award

Egyptian footballer and Ahly striker Mohammed Abou-Treika has been shortlisted for the 2012 Best African-based Player award.African governing body CAF announced that Treika made it among the final three candidates, including Zambians Rainford Kalaba and Stoppila Sunzu, who both play for Democratic Republic of Congo club TP Mazembe, Egypt’s al-Ahram online reported Friday. Youssed Msakni and Yannick N’Djeng of Tunisia’s Esperance club were dropped despite leading their team to the African Champions final where they conceded to Ahly,...

Saudi female fans want their own space in football stadiums

Some Saudi women came all the away from the kingdom only to watch their country’s Al-Fateh team play against Kuwait’s Al-Arabi in a UEFA Cup football match in Kuwait City on Monday. “We came all the way from al-Hasa to support our team, and we wish that our team will win,” one woman said, adding “this is the first time we came here to watch a game live...the experience is superb and hopefully we will win.” The women, excited to be in Kuwait City to watch the match live, cheered and applauded Al-Fateh in the first leg match against Al-Arabi.  Another Saudi woman, ecstatic, expressed...

World Bank to spend $6.4 mln on Gaza water project

The World Bank on Tuesday approved a $6.4 million grant to improve water and sewage services in the Gaza Strip in the wake of an eight-day firefight between Israel and the territory’s Hamas rulers. The infrastructure in the impoverished Palestinian enclave -- with a population of more than 1.5 million people -- has been deteriorating in recent years and the area is now “choked with untreated sewage,” the Bank said. “We are concerned about the lack of clean water supply and the deterioration in the quality of water resources in the...

Morocco seeks airline partner from Gulf or beyond

Morocco would rather pursue a strategic partnership for Royal Air Maroc (RAM), with an airline from one of the Gulf states or beyond, than sell a stake in its flag carrier, government ministers said late on Monday. A government source last month said that partnership proposals included the sale of a minority stake to a leading Gulf airline. “No decision has been taken yet, but my opinion is that it is better to do a partnership rather than sell a stake,” Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad said on the sidelines of a tourism conference in Rabat. “RAM...