Call up for Galatasaray

EGYPT has called up three Turkey-based players for a friendly match against Turkish champions Galatasaray in Cairo on Saturday.

Ahmed Hassan was given the nod and will be joined by his Genclerbirligi teammate Abdel-Zaher El-Saqqa and Malatayspor midfielder Ayman Abdel-Aziz.

The match is part of Egypt's series of international warm-ups before its African Nations Cup qualifier against Mauritius in March. Egypt lost its opening group game to Madagascar 1-0. Failure to win in Mauritius could put Egypt's hopes of a record 18th Nations Cup appearance in jeopardy.

Galatasaray's trip to Cairo forms part of their training schedule during their league's winter break.

Said joins Everton

EGYPTIAN international Ibrahim Said was on the substitutes bench on Sunday when Everton lost to Tottenham Hotspur 4-3.

Said joined Everton last week on a five-month loan deal worth £100,000.

Said, who had previously failed to get a contract in Europe for Belgian side Ghent, had trials with Everton during the summer. However, he was unable to sign because of a cash shortage at the club.

Said, 24, is one of the best players in Egyptian football and is known for his versatility, having played mostly in defence and midfield but also occasionally up front. He was part of the Ahli side that swept to victory in the 2001 African Champions League.

Ahli's marketing manager, Adli El-Qaiei, confirmed Said's switch.

Nigeria picks 2010 team

NIGERIA has named a 15-man committee to spearhead its bid to host the 2010 World Cup. The country is involved in a bid with Ghana, Benin, Togo and Cameroon to bring the 32-team tournament to western Africa.

Nigeria registered its interest in staging the tournament a day before the 31 December deadline set by FIFA, soccer's world ruling body.

Five other African countries including Egypt, Libya and South Africa, have also submitted their initial bids to host the finals.

Last week, Morocco and Tunisia revealed they are planning a joint bid.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) made the announcement. FIFA confined the 2010 contest to African countries under their new continental rotation system. Morocco had presented their individual candidature last November.

Their previous bids for the 1994, 1998 and 2006 tournaments failed.

All formal bids must be presented to the 24-member FIFA executive committee by 31 August.

South Africa came close to securing the 2006 finals, losing 12-11 to Germany in a controversial final round of voting by FIFA's executive committee. No other African country has come closer to hosting the sport's most prestigious event.

No to Zimbabwe

THE FOOTBALL Association has turned down an invitation to send an England squad to Zimbabwe.

The FA was contacted by officials in Zimbabwe following the September announcement that Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad would play a friendly in South Africa next May. Zimbabwe officials offered England the chance to visit the country on their way to Durban.

It was suggested that England could set up a training camp in Harare and play a friendly against Zimbabwe, while the players would also be taken on a sightseeing tour. But the FA's acting chief executive David Davies said the offer was rapidly declined.

With the cloud of political unrest currently hanging over Zimbabwe, it was felt that an England visit would not be deemed appropriate.

England's cricketers are already caught up in a similar moral dilemma ahead of the World Cup, which starts on 10 February.

England are scheduled to face Zimbabwe in Harare in their opening match on 13 February, but have come under pressure to boycott the competition.

But England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb said the two issues could not be compared.

"We spoke to David Davies in the week and he was very keen that the FA should not be seen to be scoring a point over the ECB here," he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"It's much easier to make a decision when another organisation has already gone in and tested the temperature of the water. It's a very different scenario. We're talking about a cricket World Cup match instead of just a friendly. We've signed a contract and the FA hasn't."

Fisichella nets top award

JORDAN's Giancarlo Fisichella has beaten world champion Michael Schumacher to the top spot in a poll of his Formula One peers. The Italian, who has failed to win a race in 107 F1 starts, picked up the Drivers' Driver Award at the F1 Awards despite finishing 11th overall in last season's championship.

"Giancarlo is one of the top three and I would say even top two drivers these days," said former commentator Murray Walker.

On receiving the award, Fisichella made clear his goal for the coming season. "The car looks good and the target for me is to win my first race in Formula One and be really competitive," Fisichella said. "If Jordan is very competitive this year then I have one more year with them. But obviously if I have the opportunity to drive for one of the best teams like Ferrari, McLaren or Williams, then it would be a good chance."

In the other categories, Schumacher picked up a Bernie, a golden statuette of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, for the best driver award for the third consecutive season. Australian driver Mark Webber was named best newcomer after a season at the back of the grid with the struggling Minardi team.

Albert Park, home of the Australian Grand Prix and the scene of Webber's first championship point in F1, was named best venue. Ferrari picked up the team of the year award while McLaren boss Ron Dennis picked up a lifetime achievement award. Formula One race director Charlie Whiting was honoured for his outstanding contribution to the sport in 2002.

Sauber unveils new car

SAUBER has become the second Formula One outfit to unveil its new 2003 car. But bad weather prevented the Swiss outfit from testing it for the first time.

Sauber unveiled the C22, which will be driven by Germans Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, at Ferrari's Fiorano test track. But the facility in Maranello in Italy was under snow and Heidfeld was unable to complete the car's "shakedown" test. The team will travel to Barcelona to test the car for the first time next week. The official launch will be in Zurich on 9 February.

The car is an evolution of last year's model but has adopted a Ferrari-style droop nose. It is fitted with a customer version of Ferrari's 2002 world-championship winning V10 engine.

Toyota were the first team to unveil their new car when the TF103 was launched in France the week before. The German-based team, who made a moderately impressive debut in 2002 and run by the Japanese car giant, wants to make a step forward in its second season by getting one car in the top 10 on the grid at every race.