Mark Namanya is based in Uganda where he is the sports editor for the Daily Monitor. In November we posted an article about Mark’s impressions of South Africa and the impact of Western media on his preconceptions of the country. Mark has written one article so far for the Twenty Ten Project’s Africa Media Online. The article focuses on the 100 year rivalry between two soccer clubs based in Cairo, Al-Alhy and Zamalek. He gives an account of how this soccer made capital becomes “football crazy” on the day of this yearly soccer match.

Crazy fans enjoy life in the slow lane

Mark Namanya/Daily Monitor/Twentyten

Location: Cairo, Egypt

Take an iconic city, quadruple its population, add a few million foreign visitors, throw in the mother of all traffic jams for good measure and then stage one of the most passionate sporting occasions imaginable and what do you end up with?
“Madness,” most people would call it.
In Africa, they have another word for it: “Cairo”.
You certainly have to be crazy – and football crazy in particular – to venture out into the streets of the Egyptian capital on the day of the Al Ahly-Zamalek derby.
Few sporting occasions around the world can match its intensity. The two clubs have a rivalry which can be traced back almost 100 years and which has dominated Egyptian football for as long as most people can remember.
When the two sides meet – or, indeed, when Egypt take…

FOR THE FULL STORY OF 860 WORDS CONTACT pictures@africamediaonline.com

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Nanama Keita is a Gambian journalist who has written articles for a number of Africa publications including the The Daily Observer and a range of online websites including Gambia Now.

In this article Nanama talks about the Ghanaian national team being the first team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Here is a snippet of the text article. You can purchase the full article the Twenty Ten Project’s Africa Media Online Website

Ghanaian opportunity

Nanama Keita/Daily Observer/Twenty Ten

When Ghana became the first African country to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, the cash register started ringing in the West African nation.
The Black Stars over-came visiting Sudan 2-0 in the Group D joint qualifiers in Accra on September 6, to earn themselves a second successive appearance in the 79-year-old World Cup tournament.
The World’s most prestigious football event, which is played once every four years, will come with its usual tears, controversy and the triumphs and millions of us will be bound to our seats for four action-packed weeks.
Although the tournament will be over in just four weeks, the economic legacy of the 32-team tournament may be felt longer in the cocoa-rich nation of Ghana.
With qualification now in the bag, the Black Stars and their faithful, now believe huge financial opportunities will come pouring into the country.
Projections, based on the team’s first-ever appearance in Germany 2006, suggest the gold-rich West African nation could benefit from up to US$15m.

FOR THE FULL STORY OF 701 WORDS CONTACT pictures@africamediaonline.com

“Until recently, Malawian football has been nothing to write home about. The memory of their 1984 appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations was starting to grow dim and supporters of The Flames, as they are affectionately known, were starting to lose hope.
With a grand entrance, The Flames thumped World Cup finalists, Algeria 3-0 on January 11, 2010, propelling them into the quarter final of the tournament that doubled as a FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Much of their success has been attributed to the rising soccer star, Chiukepo Msowoya, who has been nicknamed ‘Wonderstriker’ on the official FIFA World Cup website.”

I have added a couple of the images that are part of the photo feature, which you can find here.

Malawi's rising Soccer Star and 2008 footballer of the year Chiukepo Msowoya plays with the ball at Kamuzu Stadium October 29, 2009 during preparatory training for COSAFA games scheduled for October 31, 2009 in Zimbabwe. © Amos Gumulira/ Twenty Ten Project/ Africa Media Online

Ivorian defenders Bamba Souleymane, shirt no.4 and Gosso Gosso, right, tries to stop Malawi's upcoming top goal scorer Chiukepo Msowoya during a joint 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifier game between Malawi and Ivory Coast at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, October 10, 2009. © Amos Gumulira/ Twenty Ten Project/ Africa Media Online

Malawi's goal poacher and 2008 footballer of the year, Chiukepo Msowoya during preparatory training on October 7, 2009, for the World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations qualifier game between Malawi and Ivory Coast played on October 10, 2009. © Amos Gumulira/ Twenty Ten Project/ Africa Media Online