JOHANNESBURG — African football's call for more places at the World Cup was undermined Friday as African Cup organizers again conceded to a number of struggles with their troublesome tournament. On the opening day, South Africa will take on Cape Verde and Angola will meet Morocco. Problems on the eve of the cup ranged from high numbers of unsold tickets and a humble projected profit for organizers, down to a shortage of desks for reporters at the tournament-opening game Saturday at Soccer City — a venue that hosted the last World Cup final, football's biggest game, without any problems. The setbacks put comments by the Cameroon and Ghana federation presidents that African football deserved more respect in perspective. Confederation of African Football secretary general Hicham El Amrani said it was “satisfied” with South Africa's overall preparations for the African Cup, but said CAF and its flagship tournament were still “very very far away” from UEFA and its European Championship. “We have different realities and different environments (in Africa),” El Amrani said. Despite that, Cameroon Football Federation President Mohammed Iya said earlier Friday that African football leaders were “convinced we deserve more” than the five places at the World Cup in Russia in 2018, and picked out Europe as the confederation that should give up spots. “Europe has 14. I'm very sure that half of those teams are at the same level as African teams,” Iya said. Although Africa has undoubtedly made progress on the pitch since Tunisia was the first team to win a World Cup game in 1978, its lasting impact on the world showpiece has been limited. After Pele's prediction that an African team would win the World Cup by 2000, no African team has ever made the last four, and only three teams have made the quarterfinals in the 80 years of the World Cup: Cameroon, Senegal and, most recently, Ghana in South Africa three years ago. More than that, the African Cup continues to underperform financially and as a marketing exercise for African football, giving FIFA little reason to increase Africa's allocation at the World Cup. The Feb. 10 final was also already halfway to being sold out with 45,000 tickets moved. And on the pitch and within the teams, there continued to be fascinating stories that maybe only African football could provide. On Saturday, the team from the tiny island nation of Cape Verde will make its debut at a major tournament in the opening game against South Africa, Didier Drogba's superstar-filled Ivory Coast will resume its desperate search for a first title in 20 years, and Ethiopia will make an emotional return to the tournament it helped create after a 31-year absence. Napoli wins two-point appeal, boosts title hopes Napoli's Serie A title hopes received a boost Thursday when it had a two-point sanction overturned by the Italian football federation (FIGC). The decision allows Napoli to move into second place in the table on 42 points, three behind leader Juventus. Napoli captain Paolo Cannavaro and teammate Gianluca Grava, suspected of playing a role in a match-fixing affair, were also cleared, according to the FIGC. A statement said: “The two-points penalty deduction has been annulled and Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava have been acquitted. Napoli will now pay a fine of 50,000 euros.” Atletico beats Betis An early goal by Radamel Falcao helped Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 home win against Real Betis in the quarterfinals of the Copa de Rey Thursday. Atletico, which is unbeaten at its Vicente Calderon stadium this season, piled the pressure on early and Diego Godin nearly broke through when he headed just wide in the sixth minute of the first-leg match. Falcao opened the scoring with a close-range header from Raul Garcia's cross in the 11th minute. Filipe Luis added Atletico's second when he pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area to fire home in the 23rd. The second leg will be played Jan 24. — Agencies
