Mali handed World Cup qualification boost

Mali have been handed a boost in their bid to qualify for the World Cup after being allowed to host the first leg of their playoff tie against Tunisia at home in Bamako.
Mali had been denied use of their home stadiums during the group phase of the World Cup qualifiers last year when the Confederation of African Football ruled their stadia unfit to be used for international matches.
They were forced to move all their home qualifiers to Morocco but still finished top of their group to advance to the last stage of the African preliminaries.
Renovations to the stadium in Bamako have since meant the venue has been passed for use for the first leg of the playoff against Tunisia on March 25, FIFA said on Monday.
The return leg will be played in Tunis four days later with the aggregate winner qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar.
Senegal will use their new Diamniadio Olympic Stadium in Dakar for the return leg of their tie against Egypt on March 29.
FIFA also announced Cameroon will play the first leg of their tie against Algeria at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde rather than the Olembe Stadium, where eight people were killed in a stadium crush last month during the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
All five of the first leg clashes in the African playoff are set for March 25 with the return leg on March 29.