U.S. footballers to arrive in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Oct 08, 2003 (dpa) — A U.S. football team is to arrive in Sudan next week to play two matches, a Sudanese government official said on Tuesday.

Azhari El Tigani, of the ministry of youth and sports said a U.S. football team comprising of 16 “Sport Ambassadors” would play two friendly matches in the country.

He said that the visitors, many of whom had played at international level, would play their first game against Merrikh on October 13, with the second game three days later against Amel, a club based in the River Nile state.

The visit is meant to boost good diplomatic relations between the two countries. Relations were at a low ebb recently after the U.S. withdrew all its diplomatic personnel from Sudan and closed its embassy in Khartoum in February 1991.