The two-year suspension by the World Soccer body, FIFA, on the Confederation of African Football vice President Farah Addo will not affect activities of the continental and regional soccer bodies, officials said.

Knowledge bank: Are African sportsmen, women, administrators, and other stakeholders in the sports industry ready for critical journalists, asks the award-winning Nigerian journalist, Olukayode Thomas. Read the fascinating account of his own experiences as a critical sports journalist for various Nigerian newspapers and make your own decision.

Knowledge bank: While Africa is rapidly improving in the world of sport, we should ask ourselves where are the African sportswomen? In this presentation I will explain how surviving and succeeding in sport as a woman is still a nightmare for many Tanzanian girls and women.

Knowledge bank: In Liberia, Don Bosco Homes has succesfully used soccer tournaments to rehabilitate child soldiers and raise awareness of HIV/Aids and childrens' rights.

Tarahumaras in Mexico and Kalenjins in Kenya are superb runners. Thanks to British colonialisation, the Kenyans have become integrated in world sport which has resulted - amongst other things - in exploitation of young athletes. The Mexicans on the other hand have preserved their own running culture, and Dirk Christensen wonders which group is better off.

The situation in East Africa shows that FIFA grants have a hand in wrangling between federations and Governments. It has become a curse of soccer development in the region.

Rarely do financial mismanagement in sports bodies in Africa attract the attention of international watchdogs. However, in their Global Corruption Report of 2001, Transparency International reported how KFF has misused millions of shillings in the name of developing Kenya's number one sport.

AFTER years of insecurity perpetrated by elements of defeated Interahamwe militiamen of former President Juvenal Habyarimana, Rwanda has been on an ambitious programme to build her image. Perturbed by the 1994 genocide where at least one million people are believed to have died after Hutus and Tutsis clashed, the Paul Kagame-led administration has succeeded in using sports as an essential vehicle to unite their people and build the country's image.