Cameroon a third seed for World Cup draw

JOHANNESBURG — Seven-time World Cup qualifier Cameroon will be a third seed when the African groups draw is made on June 24, world football body FIFA said Monday. The Indomitable Lions, who have qualified for the tournament more times than any other African country and reached the 1990 quarterfinals, are among 20 teams to be split into five groups. Each round-robin mini-league winner qualifies for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with Cameroon, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria seeking third consecutive appearances. Algeria, Ghana and African champion Ivory Coast are among the top seeds based on June FIFA rankings updated after Cup of Nations qualifiers last weekend. Nigeria, which boasts the second most World Cup qualifications from Africa with five, has been included among the second seed. Qualifying kicks off this October, continues in November and there will be a further four rounds during 2017 between August and November. Eighteen of the teams in the Cairo draw are among the top 20 in the rankings with Gabon (22) and Libya (33) the exceptions. Seeding Pot 1: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia. Pot 2 Cape Verde, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Mali. Pot 3 Cameroon, Morocco, Guinea, South Africa, Congo Brazzaville. Pot 4 Uganda, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Gabon, Libya. KPMG terminates FIFA contract Accounting and auditing giants KPMG confirmed Monday it has ended its decade-long association with scandal-hit world football governing body FIFA. The Swiss branch of KPMG confirmed "the end of this partnership with immediate effect" in a statement to AFP. "In accordance with Swiss law, by letter dated June 9, we informed the FIFA president about our decision to end this association and the reasons leading KPMG to take this decision," the audit firm said without revealing details. "We are going to continue looking after certain FIFA trusts and we cannot make any further comment," the KPMG statement added. The Dutch-based firm had announced last September it was examining work carried out by its Swiss branch, which has overseen the auditing of FIFA's accounts since 1999. "The decision was made by KPMG. They notified us at the end of last week," a source familiar with FIFA's management said. "We don't know what the outcome of the internal review of their FIFA audit was." "FIFA acknowledges the decision of KPMG to step down as FIFA's auditor after more than a decade of service," the world body said in a statement, adding a new auditing firm would be appointed at the Congress in May 2017. New FIFA President Gianni Infantino, elected in February to take over from suspended Sepp Blatter, "has initiated a comprehensive financial audit of FIFA's finance function", the FIFA statement said. "In light of the serious allegations involving financial transactions outlined by the Swiss and US authorities, it is essential that the financial function at FIFA be externally reviewed and thoroughly reformed. "The appointment of a new auditor, coupled with the appointments of a new Chief Financial Officer and a new Chief Compliance Officer, are essential steps in this process." FIFA has been battling to redeem its name ever since a raid on a Zurich hotel last year to arrest seven FIFA officials at the center of a US investigation. — Agencies