Morocco

Morocco, which reaffirmed its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup finals this week by dismissing South African calls to quit the race, has despatched a delegation to Paraguay to lobby for South America's support.

Morocco, in a move to reaffirm its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, says it has no plans to withdraw from the competition to host the finals, an official statement said.
Business

The chief executive officer of South Africa's bid committee for the 2006 Soccer World Cup has told the South African Cabinet that he is extremly confident the country will be awarded the event, the Pan African News Agency reports.

South Africa says it is trying to persuade Morocco to quit the race to host the 2006 World Cup finals and allow it to be Africa's sole candidate.