'Illegal to be who I am' - Daley urges change in same-sex laws

Yahoo – AFP, Robert SMITH, April 13, 2018

Britain's Tom Daley has voiced his concerns about the treatment of homosexuals
 in large parts of the Commonwealth, whose athletes are gathered on Australia's
Gold Coast for the ongoing Games (AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE)

Gold Coast (Australia) (AFP) - English world champion diver Tom Daley on Friday urged Commonwealth nations who outlaw homosexuality to relax their anti-gay stance.

Openly gay Daley, who is expecting a child with his partner through a surrogate, grasped the opportunity of his gold medal triumph in the 10m synchro event to push for change.

Daley, who won gold with team-mate Daniel Goodfellow, said sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex are criminalised in 37 Commonwealth countries.

Daley voiced his concerns about the treatment of homosexuals in large parts of the Commonwealth, whose athletes are gathered on Australia's Gold Coast for the ongoing Games.

"Hopefully, I know this might sound a bit political, but by the next Commonwealth Games (in Birmingham 2022), there are 37 countries in the Commonwealth where it's currently illegal to be who I am, so hopefully we can reduce that number between now and then," Daley told reporters.

"Coming to the Gold Coast and being able to live as an openly gay man is really important and to be able to feel comfortable in who you are when you are standing on that diving board.

"For 37 countries that are here participating that's very much not the case."

Daley said it was time for those Commonwealth countries to change their anti-gay laws.

"You just have to face those things and try and make change," he said.

"There are lots of things that are going to take a long time to change, but I feel with the Commonwealth I think we can really help push some of the other nations to relax their laws on anti-gay sex."

Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg said his organisation was proud of its record on inclusivity.

"At the time of Glasgow 2014, 43 Commonwealth countries criminalised same sex activity, but today, that number has been reduced to 37," Grevemberg said Friday.

"We hope that the Commonwealth sports movement is playing a meaningful role in the wider global conversation around tolerance, empowerment and legal recognition for all."

Daley's comments were backed by New Zealand boxer Alexis Pritchard, who wore rainbow socks in support of gay rights in her 57kg semi-final on Friday.

"I think it's particularly sad that people cannot love who they want to love," she told AFP.

"It's important that each and every individual has rights to receive love and give love to the people that they choose.

"I find it absolutely sad that we are not open to that in so many nations."

The penalties for private, consensual sexual conduct between same-sex adults remain harsh in a number of Commonwealth countries, including imprisonment, hard labour and in some cases flogging.

The Commonwealth countries that outlaw homosexuality include Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Tonga.

Sudan's 'sister coach' takes love of football to field

Yahoo – AFP, Jay Deshmukh and Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali, April 3, 2018

Salma al-Majidi has been acknowledged by FIFA as the first Arab and Sudanese
woman to coach a men's football team in the Arab world (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Gadaref (Sudan) (AFP) - In Sudan, where a women's national football team remains a distant dream, Salma al-Majidi knew the only way to take part in her beloved sport was to coach... and that the players had to be men.

Majidi, 27, acknowledged by FIFA as the first Arab and Sudanese woman to coach a men's football team in the Arab world, is a pioneer in a sport that dominates the region.

"Why football? Because it is my first and ultimate love," said Majidi, clad in sports gear and a black headscarf, as she led players of the Al-Ahly Al-Gadaref club at a practice session in the town of Gadaref, east of Khartoum.

"I became a coach because there is still no scope for women's football in Sudan," said Majidi, who is affectionately called "sister coach" by her team.

Daughter of a retired policeman, Majidi was 16 when she fell in love with football.

It came about as she watched her younger brother's school team being coached. She was captivated by the coach's instructions, his moves, and how he placed the marker cones at practice sessions.

"At the end of every training session, I discussed with him the techniques he used to coach the boys," Majidi told AFP, as she watched her own players practising on a hot day at a dusty ground in Gadaref.

"He saw I had a knack for coaching... and gave me a chance to work with him."

Soon Majidi was coaching the under-13 and under-16 teams of Al-Hilal club in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum on the west bank of the River Nile.

Majidi says she became a coach "because there is still no scope for women's 

football in Sudan" (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Limits on women players

Questions like whether she understood football or had the skills to coach men were all put to rest over time, said Majidi, speaking in a soft but confident tone.

Named in the BBC's 2015 list of "100 inspirational women", Majidi has coached the Sudanese second league men's clubs of Al-Nasr, Al-Nahda, Nile Halfa and Al-Mourada.

Nile Halfa and Al-Nahda even topped local leagues under her coaching. She currently holds the African "B" badge in coaching, meaning she can coach any first league team across the continent.

The only other woman to have gained recognition in Sudan's footballing world was Mounira Ramadan, who refereed men's matches in the 1970s.

Sudan joined FIFA in 1948 and established the Confederation of African Football (CAF) along with Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa. It won the CAF trophy in 1970.

Women's football has faced an uphill task since the country adopted Islamic sharia law in 1983, six years after which President Omar al-Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup.

There is no legal ban on women's football in Sudan, but a conservative society coupled with the Islamist leanings of the government have left it in the shadows.

Women do play football but there are no competitions or women's clubs, and they do not play much in public.

"There are restrictions on women's football, but I'm determined to succeed," Majidi, whose dream is to coach an international team, said, as her players kicked up clouds of dust practising free kicks.

Questions like whether she understood football or had the skills to coach men 

were all put to rest over time, Majidi says (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

'Kids of Salma'

Majidi's journey has not been easy.

"Sudan is a community of tribes and some tribes believe that a woman's role is confined only to her home," said Majidi, a university graduate in accounts and management.

"There was this one boy who refused to listen. He told me he belongs to a tribe that believed men should never take orders from women," she said.

It took months before he finally accepted her as coach. "Today, he is a fine player," said Majidi, who works full-time and receives a salary that is equivalent to that of a male coach.

At first, "people in the streets used to call us 'Salma's kids!'" said Majid Ahmed, a striker and an ardent fan of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

"In school we have female teachers, so what's the problem having a female coach?"

Majidi said her entrance to what was a male preserve is just a start.

"My message to men in general is to give women a chance to do what they want," she said as she prepared tea after a gruelling practice session.

'She was different'

Coming from a traditional family, it was a challenge for Majidi to prove herself to their relatives, recalls her father, Mohamed al-Majidi.

"Then one day, her uncle who used to criticise her saw crowds shouting 'Salma! Salma!' during a match," he told AFP at the family's mud-and-brick home in Omdurman.

"These same relatives now pray to Allah to support her."

From early on, Majidi's mother knew her daughter was different.

"She always preferred wearing trousers... And even when crossing the street, she would watch the boys playing football," said Aisha al-Sharif.

Nigerians meet their Olympic bobsled team

Yahoo – AFP, Phil HAZLEWOOD, with Jim Slater in Washington, Feb 3, 2018

Nigeria's Seun Adigun (L), Ngozi Onwumere (2L) and Akuoma Omeoga (C) will
become the first African bobsleigh team in Winter Olympic history while Simi
Adeagbo (R) will be the first African to compete in the skeleton (AFP Photo/Stefan HEUNIS)

Lagos (AFP) - Nigerians met their Winter Olympic bobsled team for the first time just one week before the start of the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Thirty years after a Jamaican squad became a global sensation, the trio of Nigerian women Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga will become the first African bobsleigh team in Winter Olympic history.

Born to Nigerian parents they all live in the United States but travelled to Lagos for a rousing Nigerian send-off on Friday night at a corporate reception held in their honour at a luxury hotel.

Their qualification late last year for the February 9-25 Games has since attracted massive interest around the world and won the previously crowd-funded athletes a string of big-name sponsors.

Many people in Africa's most populous nation said they were unaware the country even had a bobsled team. Some were keen to play up their supposed ignorance for comic effect.

"So, you are the driver?" the comedian compering the event said, pointing at Adigun.

"And you are the brake... appliers," he ventured eagerly to Onwumere and Omeoga, as if searching for the correct terminology. "And what is that thing you are pushing? A wheelbarrow?"

"First question," he asked the women's team-mate Simi Adeagbo, who will also make history by becoming the first African to compete in the skeleton. "What is that?"

Despite being new to hurtling down an icy track at 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour, Nigerians -- noted more for their passion for football -- are happy to cheer the team on.

On the hotel's rooftop bar, with temperatures still in the mid-30s Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) by late evening, guests drank champagne and ate "small chop" (finger food). Dance music distorted through a skyscraper of loud-speakers. Most people arrived late. Everyone blamed bad traffic.

But Nigeria's pioneering winter sports team were made to feel at home with fairy lights and Christmas snowflake decorations twinkling overhead, above white plastic sheeting stuck to the floor with gaffer tape.

Nigerian bobsled team member Seun Adigun was a 100m hurdler for Nigeria 

at the 2012 London Summer Olympics (AFP Photo/Stefan HEUNIS)

Dry ice and cotton wool

To complete the frozen idyll, a bored-looking teenager wearing a single red rubber glove operated a dry ice machine that sent damp-smelling fog curling over snow drifts of cotton wool.

Nearby, air conditioning units were set to the equivalent of 16 degrees -- a good 10 degrees below the temperature that normally makes some in tropical Nigeria don a hat and coat.

The team took the gentle ribbing with good humour, batting back comparisons to Jamaica's participation in the 1988 Games in Calgary, Canada, that led to the 1993 Hollywood film "Cool Runnings".

Adigun is the driving force behind the team's Olympic dream, from working with the US team to learn the sport to hammering and nailing together a makeshift wooden sled in Houston and gathering fellow sprinters to make a run at history.

She was a 100m hurdler for Nigeria at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Omeoga was a sprinter for the University of Minnesota and Onwumere was a double sprint medalist at the 2015 African Games.

"I basically got into the sport of bobsledding in 2015 after a little bit of a hiatus from athletics," the US magazine People recently.

"I also learned that Nigeria had never had any Winter Olympians... and then to cap it off I learned the continent of Africa had never been represented, man or woman, by any bobsleigh team.

Their qualification last year for the Olympic Games has won previously 

crowd-funded athletes (L-R): Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, and Akuoma 

Omeoga a string of big-name sponsors (AFP Photo/Stefan HEUNIS)

"So I was like, 'OK, this is obviously something that's going to hang over my head if I don't step in and try and do something about it."

At the reception, questions about the basics of the sport -- from timings to the number of people participating -- were met with polite responses.

But in a country where self-sufficiency is a matter of life and death for most people, the women's hard work and commitment to achieving their goals got the loudest cheer.

Adigun explained that once she had told herself out loud that she was going to try to make the Winter Olympics there was no going back.

"Once you speak (something) into existence, that's an affirmation that you're going to commit," she added.

"Can you speak gold into existence?" asked the compere.

Adigun smiled. Then the dancing started.

Ex-footballer Weah vows 'better life' after Liberia presidential win

Yahoo – AFP, Philippe SIUBERSKI, December 30, 2017

Supporters of George Weah celebrate after final results in Liberia's presidential
election confirmed his as winner (AFP Photo/SEYLLOU)

Monrovia (AFP) - Liberia's president-elect George Weah vowed Saturday to "improve people's lives" after the former star footballer secured a stunning run-off victory in the country's first democratic transfer of power in decades.

Idolised in Liberia as "Mister George", Weah is to be sworn in on January 22, replacing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who in 2006 took the helm of the West African country first founded for freed US slaves.

The electoral board confirmed Weah's run-off victory on Friday evening, as his rival, Vice President Joseph Boakai, conceded defeat.

In his first public comments since his victory, Weah told journalists in Monrovia he aimed to "improve the lives" of Liberians.

"I declare publicly today that transforming the lives of all Liberians is a singular mission," he said.

A victory speech was however postponed after crowds of energetic supporters gathered around a podium for Weah's address grew too boisterous, an AFP correspondent said.

Weah, 51, who starred in top-flight football at Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan in the 1990s and briefly at Chelsea and Manchester City before entering politics in 2002, won 61.5 percent of the ballot, taking 14 of Liberia's 15 counties.

Boakai said he had called Weah to congratulate him and appealed for unity, saying: "My love for the country is far (more) profound than my desire for the presidency."

The White House called the vote "a major milestone for Liberia's democracy" while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauded "all Liberians for the successful completion of the elections process, which was conducted in a peaceful environment".

Former international football star and Liberia's president-elect George Weah told

 reporters he would aim to 'build on the gains' of his predecessor Ellen Johnson 

Sirleaf (AFP Photo/Zoom DOSSO)

'Don't forget your roots'

The tumultuous events of the past 70 years in Liberia, where an estimated 250,000 people died during back-to-back civil wars between 1989-2003, have prevented a democratic handover from taking place since 1944.

Sirleaf's predecessor Charles Taylor fled the country in 2003, hoping to avoid prosecution for funding rebel groups in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Two presidents who served prior to Taylor were assassinated.

The Sirleaf administration guided the nation out of the ruins of war and through the horrors of the 2014-16 Ebola crisis, but is accused of failing to combat poverty and corruption.

Weah said he would aim to "build on the institutional gains made under Madame Sirleaf".

His former club Paris Saint-Germain tweeted its congratulations to the "world football legend on the latest chapter of his brilliant career!!!" while former Chelsea star Didier Drogba, Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure and Marseille's former Cameroon midfielder Stephane Mbia also sent their best wishes.

Weah, who grew up in grinding poverty, is already facing pressure to improve the lives of millions of Liberians.

"I think the Liberian people will expect... Weah's presidency to (have a) pro-poor, pro-growth policy that will put the people at the centre of national development," said political analyst Vita Ishmael Tue.

Profile of George Weah who won the Liberian election (AFP Photo/
Paul DEFOSSEUX)

He added that he expected Weah's presidency to see power "given to the people; the provision of education, youth training for disadvantaged and vulnerable youths that are on the streets and who see themselves in him".

Clinton Taryor from Weah's CDC party urged the new leader: "Mr. President, don't forget your roots. We are not behind you because you're handsome or because you are a star.... Some of us are behind you because we know that you walked in our shoes."

Weah, the only African ever to have won both FIFA's World Player of the Year and the coveted Ballon D'Or, missed out on the presidency in a 2005 bid.

His latest campaign was not without controversy, however.

He has drawn some criticism for picking Jewel Howard-Taylor, the powerful ex-wife of former warlord and president Charles Taylor, as his vice-president. Taylor is serving a 50-year sentence in a British jail for war crimes.

Weah also had the backing of a notorious former warlord Prince Johnson, who sipped a beer as his men tortured former president Samuel Kanyon Doe to death.

Liberia's Ellen Sirleaf: a women's icon with nerves of steel who made history in 2005 when she became Africa's first elected female president https://t.co/kV5HusXMUw pic.twitter.com/KLUovkLajE

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 30, 2017

Saudi Arabia picks princess to head women's sports

Saudi Arabia has selected Princess Reema bint Bandar as the country's de facto minister for women's sports. This year, the kingdom doubled the number of its female athletes from two to four.

Deutsche Welle, 3 Aug 2016

Saudi's Cabinet announced on Tuesday that Princess Reema would head the General Authority for Sports without disclosing further details about her role.

The daughter of the ex-ambassador to the US, Princess Reema spent much of her youth in Washington, D.C. "I am honored to serve my country," she was quoted as saying by the SPA state news agency.

Female athletics have historically not been encouraged in the kingdom, though recently there have been calls for change. In an unprecedented move, one state school introduced sports for girls in 2014.

Evolving on women's sports

In an interview with Fast Company magazine, Princess Reema said she has been working to promote women's empowerment in the country.

"Our society tend to change a bit slower than other," she told the magazine last year. "We have to explain to people that it's evolution, not Westernization."

The Cabinet's announcement comes as the kingdom gears up for the 2014 Olympic Games in Rio, where four of its women athletes will compete alongside seven male athletes. That number represents an increase of 50 percent from the number of Saudi women who competed in the last Olympic games.

blc/kms (AFP, AP)

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"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Samoura chosen as first female FIFA secretary general

Yahoo – AFP, May 13, 2016

Fatma Samoura will be the first female secretary general in the history of
FIFA (AFP Photo/Andreea Campeanu)

Mexico City (AFP) - FIFA on Friday named Senegalese UN diplomat Fatma Samoura as the first female secretary general in the history of the male-dominated world football organization.

Samoura, 54, comes from outside the football world, having worked with the United Nations for 21 years. She is currently based in Nigeria for the UN Development Program.

"Today is a wonderful day for me, and I am honored to take on the role of FIFA's Secretary General," Samoura, who has also worked at the World Food Program, said in a statement.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has

 promised reforms to world football's

governing body during a trip to Thailand.

"I also look forward to bringing my experience in governance and compliance to bear on the important reform work that is already underway at FIFA."

She will take her post by mid-June after undergoing an eligibility check administered by an independent review committee.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who announced her appointment by the FIFA Council during a congress in Mexco City, said Samoura was a "great person" with experience managing big organizations, budgets and staff.

"We have to be serious when we say we embrace diversity and we believe in gender equality," Infantino said.

"She will bring a fresh wind to FIFA, somebody from outside, not somebody from inside, not somebody from the past but somebody new."

Her appointment was a huge surprise at a congress that was meant to focus on confirming reforms aimed at cleaning up an organization ensnared in a massive corruption scandal.

The former secretary general, Jerome Valcke of France, was sacked in January and banned from football for 12 years over misconduct in television deals and World Cup ticket sales -- one of the many scandals that hit FIFA.

Germany's Markus Kattner had been serving as interim secretary general since then.

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"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version) - New

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Kenya president hails athletes for winning global title

Yahoo – AFP, 30 Aug 2015

Gold medallist Kenya's Asbel Kiprop and silver medallist Kenya's Elijah Motonei
Manangoi celebrate after the final of the men's 1500 metres at the 2015 IAAF
World Championships in Beijing on August 30, 2015 (AFP Photo/Franck Fife)

Nairobi (AFP) - Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday congratulated the country's athletes for their sterling performances at the world athletics championship in Beijing where Kenya won the global title for the first time.

Kenya topped the medal standings with a total of 16 medals, including seven golds, and beating athletics' heavyweights, Jamaica and the United States into second and third positions respectively.

"Our young people have once again shown that they are as good as the world's best and the brightest," said Kenyatta in a press statement.

He urged for the strengthening of the national youth development to empower as many Kenyan communities in order to make Kenya to be more competitive in future international competitions.

Kenya, which has been dominant in the middle and long distance events, achieved rare wins in the men's 400m hurdles and the javelin in Beijing for the first time.

S.Africa admits paying $10 mn but denies FIFA bribe

Yahoo – AFP, Agnes Pedrero, 31 May 2015

FIFA president Sepp Blatter on May 30, 2015 in Zurich after being 

re-elected (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Geneva (AFP) - South Africa admitted Sunday that it paid $10 million in 2008 but denied it was in any way a bribe to FIFA for the 2010 World Cup, in the latest twist to the massive corruption scandal engulfing world football's governing body.

Two separate investigations are being carried out by American and Swiss authorities for alleged rampant and long-running corruption within FIFA, with several top officials arrested and accused by US investigators of taking tens of millions of dollars in bribes.

Several top football officials have been questioned by Swiss investigators, Bern said, and FIFA's president Sepp Blatter too could be quizzed "in the future if needed", according to Swiss prosecutors.

The biggest scandal to rock world football erupted Wednesday when seven FIFA officials were arrested in their Zurich hotel as part of the US probe.

They and seven others were charged for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies that ran from 1991 to present day, and accused of taking or conspiring to solicit for $150 million in bribes.

An example cited in US papers was the 2004 selection process for the 2010 World Cup, with investigators claiming that South African officials paid $10 million to former FIFA vice president Jack Warner -- one of the 14 indicted -- in order to secure the bid.

South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan, pictured on

 May 28, 2015, confirmed that the World Cup organising committee paid 

$10 million in 2008, after South Africa won the bid in May 2004 but

insisted this was not a bribe (AFP Photo)

South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan confirmed on Sunday that the organising committee made a payment of $10 million in 2008 but insisted this was not a bribe.

"I haven't paid a bribe or taken a bribe from anybody in my life. We don't know who is mentioned there (in the indictment)," Jordaan told the Sunday Independent.

"How could we have paid a bribe for votes four years after we had won the bid?" Jordaan said, adding that the payment was South Africa's contribution towards Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football's (CONCACAF) football development fund.

Warner was then also president of CONCACAF.

'Out of touch'

Swiss authorities were meanwhile running a parallel probe into allegations of bribery in the process over the controversial awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

The Swiss justice spokesman said the top football officials were interviewed as "people who could provide information", without giving further details.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (L) shakes hands with UEFA President

 Michel Platini after being re-elected, in Zurich on May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Michael Buholzer)

He added that Blatter "will not be questioned at this stage. If necessary, he will be in the future".

Seven senior FIFA officials are believed to be among those heard by investigators -- Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), Angel Miguel Villar Llona (Spain), Michel D'Hooge (Belgium), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Hany Abo Rida (Egypt) and Vitaly Mutko (Russia).

Two other current members of the Executive Committee who voted in 2010 for Qatar and Russia live in Switzerland -- Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini.

Swiss investigators were believed to be prioritising those living abroad as they were in town for a FIFA meeting on Saturday.

Blatter, who was re-elected to a fifth term as FIFA president on Friday despite the worst scandal to hit the organisation, has accused US investigators of using the arrests as an attempt "interfere with the congress" that returned him to power.

The 79-year-old Swiss has argued that while many hold him "ultimately responsible for actions and reputation of the global football community", he "cannot monitor everyone all of the time".

In an interview published Sunday by Swiss tabloid SonntagsBlick, Blatter said he "has been treated with zero respect" in the last few days.

He also said he was "very disappointed" by Platini, who has openly asked him to step down from the top job.

Platini has said UEFA will review relations with FIFA on June 6 while English Football Association chief Greg Dyke indicated England could be ready to back a European boycott of the World Cup.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisted FIFA must make a new start following Blatter's re-election and said football's governing body was out of touch with the sport it serves.

"I have serious doubts that FIFA will be able to handle this massive task without making a serious new start," he told German daily Die Welt on Sunday.

"The gap between the machinations of their officials and the many players, coaches, parents, referees and fans around the world, who with a lot of passion, ensure every week that football lives, could not be greater."

Barclays has launched an internal review into whether its accounts were used 

for corrupt payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP on May 31,

2015 (AFP Photo/Carl Court)

In underlining the far-reaching nature of the scandal, British bank Barclays announced it had launched an internal review into whether its accounts were used for corrupt payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP.

Barclays was among three banks with British headquarters named in the US indictment, which outlined how tens of millions of dollars were hidden in offshore accounts.

Another, Standard Chartered, said Friday that it was looking into two payments cleared by the bank that were mentioned in the indictment.

The third named bank, HSBC, has so far declined to comment.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office said Friday that it "continues actively to assess material in its possession and has made plain that it stands ready to assist ongoing international criminal investigations".

'The curse is over!' - Ivorians rejoice in African Cup win

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre Donadieu, Adama Bakayoko, 9 Feb 2015

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara (L) and Ivory Coast's midfielder Yaya Toure

 wave at the crowd during a welcoming parade in Abidjan on February 9, 2015

(AFP Photo/Sia Kambou)

Abidjan (AFP) - A million ecstatic Ivorians flocked to the streets of Abidjan Monday to welcome home the national football squad after its nail-biting victory over Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations final, police said.

Sunday's 9-8 penalty shootout win by The Elephants, who are due to parade in the city's football stadium, ended a 23-year Africa Cup of Nations title drought.

A tightly-packed crowd amassed along the road linking the country's commercial capital Abidjan to the airport -- the route victorious members of The Elephants squad were to take on their way for a celebration of Sunday's final victory in Equatorial Guinea.

After being greeted by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara upon landing at 1400 GMT, team members waded through joyous fans before mounting a bus taking them to the national Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium.

According to Ivorian public radio, the 35,000-seat stadium was filled to capacity by mid-morning, and despite appeals from authorities for fans to avoid the crammed venue, crowds unable to enter spilled out into surrounding neighbourhoods.

Ivory Coast's Cup of Nations winning team (AFP Photo/Carl de Souza)

The nervy final ended in an explosion of joy across Ivory Coast after goalkeeper Boubacar Barry -- nicknamed "Coppa" -- drove home the winning penalty shot after blocking a spot-kick from his Ghanaian counterpart Razak Braimah.

On Monday Barry was treated to a hero's reception, with fans chanting "Coppa, you are a god!"

Elsewhere in Abidjan and throughout the nation, an army of orange jersey-clad fans took advantage of the paid holiday Outtara decreed in honour of the victory.

"When we flew over the city we saw the amazing crowds. It was really moving," enthused striker Wilfried Bony, who was taken aback by the popular outpouring.

Supporters of the Ivorian football national 

team force a police barrier to enter the

 Houphouet Boigny stadium in Abidjan

 on February 9, 2015 to welcome their

team (AFP Photo/Sia Kambou)

"You can tell Ivory Coast is a nation that loves football," quipped striker Salomon Kalou.

The surge of popular glee began the second the winning goal was scored, breaking the tension created by 90 minutes of scoreless football, plus two periods of blank extra-time.

"The curse is finally over! The Ivorians are the kings of Africa tonight," cheered Alexandre, a student who watched the game with hundreds of others on a giant screen at Felix Houphouet-Boigny University.

"History has repeated itself," said Moussa, a young supporter, who had painted his cheeks in the orange, green and white of the Ivorian flag, referring to the country's last Africa Cup win in 1992 -- also in a final against Ghana that ended in penalties.

Ivory Coast 'reconciled'

Some fans pointed to the victory as a symbol of unity in a country scarred by years of conflict.

"For years we wept but we deserve this Cup. Today we are all behind this team," Ahmed, another fan in Abidjan, said.

National cohesion had been an elusive ideal for most of the past decade.

A supporter of the Ivorian football national 

team holds a board reading "Ivory Coast

wins, thanks ADO" referring to Ivorian 

President Alassane Dramane Ouattara,

in Abidjan on February 9, 2015 

(AFP Photo/Sia Kambou)

The world's biggest cocoa producer was divided between 2003 and 2011 between a rebel-held north and a south controlled by forces loyal to ex-president Laurent Gbagbo.

The violence peaked after a disputed presidential poll in late 2010. After four months of fighting in which 3,000 people were killed, forces loyal to Ouattara, the internationally-recognised winner, ousted Gbagbo.

Throughout the conflict years The Elephants were held up as a symbol of unity -- but the team's failure to achieve glory, despite being fronted by Chelsea legend Didier Drogba for 12 years until 2014, gave the country little cause for celebration.

Until Sunday.

"Ivory Coast has been reconciled tonight. We don't need politicians to reconcile us. The Elephants did it!," said Mamadou Soro, a teaching inspector in the central city of Bouake.

Ouattara's administration attempted to reap dividends from the win, which comes nine months before the country returns to the polls.

Within minutes of the final whistle the president's Rally of the Republicans party rushed out a statement heaping praise on the champions' "brilliance".

"We have a wonderful team and an exceptional manager. This team was consistent and united. Bravo to them!," Ouattara said on national television.