Cash squeeze threatens WAFU cup

The cash-strapped West African Football Union (WAFU) may have to postpone its regional club cup tournament for the second successive year because most of its 16 member states have failed to pay their subscriptions.

But WAFU secretary-general Aka Malan said he had agreed in principle with potential sponsors in South Africa and Britain on new funding to revive WAFU\'s West African Nations Cup wich has not been held since 1991 because of inadequate sponsorship. Aka said he could not yet give any further details of plans torevive the Nations cup.

He said the 2001 club competition may have to be postponed because of a lack of funding.

The finals of the 2000 club competition, which were to have been played in the Togolese capital Lome in December, have been postponed while WAFU tries to find a sponsor to pay the 20 million CFA francs ($28,000) needed to fund the finals. \"I can tell you that apart from Mauritania, Ghana and Togo all the other countries owe money,\" Aka said.

He said the organisation had still not paid a total of 20 million CFA francs prize money from the 1999 club tournament owed to ASFA Yennenga of Burkina Faso, Stade d\'Abidjan of Ivory Coast and Niger\'s J.S. Tenere. ($=715 CFA francs)