16 Sep WINDSOR HEADS TO NIGERIA

FIFA Development Officer, Windsor John has been appointed as the Chief General Co-ordinator for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria which will be held from Oct 24 to Nov 1st.

In June Windsor was in South Africa as General Co-ordinator for the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Windsor, who is the protege of Datuk Seri Paul Mony Samuel, was the General Co-ordinator in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was in Berlin and oversaw the operations and proudly lead the two finalist Italy and France to the match at the Berlin Stadium.

It is learnt Windsor will once again be appointed as FIFA General Co-ordinator for the 2010 World Cup and is expected to do the FINALS as well. Despite the absence of the Malaysian teams at the international scene , we must be proud that Malaysians are appointed to manage the competitions. These will be the scenario for the next 15 years.

THE TEAMS THAT QUALIFIED

AFC
The AFC U-16 Championship took place in Uzbekistan from 4 to 19 October 2008. Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and UAE all booked passage to the finals.

Iran (IRN)
Japan (JPN)
Korea Republic (KOR)
United Arab Emirates (UAE)

CAF
The eighth African U-17 Championship took place in Algeria from 19 March to 3 April 2009. Gambia, Algeria, Malawi and Burkina Faso qualified for the finals in Nigeria.

Algeria (ALG)
Burkina Faso (BFA)
Gambia (GAM)
Malawi (MWI)

UEFA 
The final round of the European U-17 Championship 2008/09 took place in Germany from 6 to 18 May 2009. Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Turkey booked their places by finishing in the top three of their respective groups.
Germany (GER)
Italy (ITA)
Netherlands (NED)
Spain (ESP)
Switzerland (SUI)
Turkey (TUR)

CONCACAF
The qualifying tournament for North, Central America and the Caribbean zone took place in Tijuana, Mexico in late April. The United States and hosts Mexico both won their groups and will be joined in Nigeria by runners-up Honduras and Costa Rica. The competition was halted after the group stages due to an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico.
Costa Rica (CRC)
Honduras (HON)
Mexico (MEX)
USA (USA)

OFC
The OFC U-17 Championship took place in Auckland, New Zealand between 20 to 24 April 2009. The winner of the competition qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009.
New Zealand (NZL)

CONMEBOL
Argentina became the first team to qualify from the tournament in Iquique, Chile, which ran from 17 April to 9 May 2009, but it was Brazil who emerged as continental champions, beating Argentina in the final on penalties. Colombia and Uruguay earned the remaining spots for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009.
Argentina (ARG)
Brazil (BRA)
Colombia (COL)
Uruguay (URU)

Host Country
The host country qualifies automatically.
Nigeria (NGA)