Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and South Africa have all received byes in the first round of qualifiers for the 2018 Africa Women’s Championship to be held in Ghana next year. This comes after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released the fixtures for the tournament which will be held in November next year.

Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich has indicated interest in appointing former coach Jupp Heynckes as interim head coach until the end of the 2017/18 season following the sack of Carlo Ancelotti last week. The 72-year-old retired from football following the 2012/13 season, in which he led the Bavarians to an unprecedented treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League titles.

World football governing body, FIFA has handed out punishments to eight African nations for various offences committed during September’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Gabon fielded an ineligible player – Merlin Tandjigora, who should have been suspended in the 3-0 home defeat by Ivory Coast on 2 September.

Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi and on-loan Hull City defender Ola Aina beat the October 3 deadline for them to report to the Super Eagles training camp ahead of their Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier against Zambia in Uyo on Saturday.