Further backing from Thabo Mbeki, the leader of South Africa - the first country from the continent which will stage the Fifa World Cup - and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, led to a few plaudits from the media.
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His time with Switzerland drew worldwide notice as the team qualified for the 1994 World Cup from a group including Italy and Portugal, and rose to third in the FIFA world rankings.
Some of the performance figures are subdued by comparison with the start of last year as Aggreko is not benefiting from the one-off gains from the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the build-up to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the Asian Games.
The huge budget helped TP Mazembe win the African Champions League title in 2009 for the first time in more than 40 years, and with it qualification for the FIFA Club World Cup, a competition that pits the champions from the ruling body's six confederations against each other.
"FIFA received a letter via email from the Costa Rica FA on 24 March 2013 with regards to the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier played on 22 March between USA and Costa Rica, " said a FIFA statement.
Qatar has already won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and hopes are now being pinned on luring more tourists from the neighbouring Gulf States with a variety of openings that would raise an eyebrow in New York, let alone in the Middle East.
The Saudi national side has suffered a sharp fall from grace since qualifying for five consecutive AFC Asian Cup finals from 1984 to 2000, and peaking at 21st in the FIFA world rankings in 2003.
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The local organising committee, which was represented at the meeting by World Cup winners players Ronaldo and Bebeto, will now be under scrutiny from Fifa and the sports ministry.
It would be like a double Fifa World Cup and Olympics because, apart from the main venue for the Games, Kenya would have to build at least six world-class stadiums to host the Olympic football matches alone.
I'm told from scheduling that the President has accepted a meeting with the head of FIFA World Cup, but we have not yet altogether made plans -- though I can assure you that a small group of us have assembled in order to move the President in that direction.
Mazembe, from DR Congo, are favourites to retain their continental title and qualify for the Fifa Club World Cup.
Marin took over from Ricardo Teixeira at the helm of Brazilian football last week and has also taken his place on the FIFA 2014 World Cup organizing committee.
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