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Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o denies suggestions he has had a problem with new coach Jose Mourinho of Inter Milan.

Eto'o said four years ago he would never play for a Mourinho team because he didn't like their style of football.

"I've never said anything against Mourinho, for many years I've wanted to work with him and now I can do so," insisted Eto'o.

Eto'o was part of a swap deal that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic leave the Italians and head to Spanish club Barcelona.

But before Eto'o could start training with his new team-mates he first had to answer questions about comments he once made about Mourinho when the Portuguese manager was in charge of Chelsea.

"I'm proud to have him as my coach and I will work to repay him the faith he has shown in me," Eto'o said as he was officially unveiled as an Inter Milan player on Tuesday.

Mourinho himself supported Eto'o's claim and said even if bad words had been exchanged in the past, that's all part of the game.

"Chelsea and Barcelona played each other six times in three years. I've never been interested in whether he spoke well or badly about me because he's like me," said Mourinho.

"He's someone who after a defeat goes home unhappy. The second year at Chelsea I wanted to buy him.

"But they told me no, like Inter did with Maicon. Both the squad and I are delighted that he is with us."

Eto'o proclaimed that he does not want to be compared to Ibrahimovic, who he is replacing.

I've never been interested in whether he spoke well or badly about me because he's like me     Inter boss Jose Mourinho

"I'm Samuel Eto'o and I don't compare myself to anyone else, my past speaks for itself," said the only African player to have won the Champions League twice.

"Ibra is a great player and I wish him all the best in a team that I will always love."

Eto'o did not agree with those who say Serie A has suffered a drop in class compared to Spain but was aware that the occasional racist abuse he received in the Primera Liga could re-emerge in Italy.

"The level of Serie A has not got worse. There are many strong players. It's true that I've played my whole career in Spain but I played lots of internationals," he said.

"I will speak up when there are problems. I am proud of the colour of my skin. Racism is a problem of education more than anything else, I expect politicians to sort it out."

Eto'o, who is likely to play in the Italian Super Cup against Lazio on 8 August in Beijing and may feature sooner, has taken the number nine shirt at the Serie A champions.

Source: bbc sport

George Weah, the 1995 World and African Footballer of the Year, says that Africa's former players should be taking a bigger role in administration.

"In Europe, people who played the game govern the game," Weah told BBC Sport.

"But in Africa, people who don't know anything or have passion for the game govern the game, so it kills the game in Africa."

The Liberian idol led a selection of retired African football greats in a match in Lagos at the weekend to promote the World Cup.

Weah and the likes of Ghana's Abedi Pele are official ambassadors for the 2010 World Cup, but the Liberian believes that the continent's stars need to be much more involved in running the game.

"We have to come together and show the world that we were good on the pitch and we can be great off the pitch as well," he said.

"Football being run as a comical circus needs to change - when we decide to do that, then we will restore respect to football and it will take a different trend in Africa.

"But if we don't fight for football's soul now, it's going to stay the same way and we'll watch the game lose its relevance and power.

"The people who have been on the pitch and played it like their lives depended on it should come on board because they know what the sport means to Africans."

"Together we should start taking responsibility to revive the game here, because football means life, freedom and power to the people of Africa."

Source: bbc sport

Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor has denied eating human flesh or ordering militias to eat their enemies.

Speaking at his war crimes trial in The Hague, Mr Taylor was quoted as saying accusations of cannibalism levelled against him were "total nonsense".

Some of Mr Taylor's former fighters have previously told the court that he had ordered them to eat their enemies.

Mr Taylor has denied 11 charges related to the civil war in Sierra Leone, Liberia's neighbour.

At the start of the third week of his trial, Mr Taylor also said impassable roads would have made it impossible for him to trade weapons for Sierra Leone's diamonds, as the prosecution alleges.

On trial at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, Mr Taylor is accused of having armed and directed rebel groups from Liberia in order to seize control of Sierra Leone's diamond riches.

The 61-year-old denies charges including terrorism, murder, rape and torture.

He is the first African leader to be tried by an international court.

'Never happened'

Responding to the allegations of cannibalism, Mr Taylor was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "It is sickening. You must be sick to believe it."

CHARLES TAYLOR CHARGES Violation of humanitarian law: Conscripting child soldiers Crimes against humanity: Terrorising civilians, murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement War crimes: "Violence to life", cruel treatment (including hacking off limbs), pillage

"It makes you feel like throwing up."

The former Liberian leader said there were cannibals in parts of his country, but he was not among them.

One witness had told the court he had eaten human flesh with Mr Taylor at a meeting of a secret society, Poro, AFP reports.

"It never happened," the former president responded. "I never ordered any combatant to eat anyone."

Denying accusations that he had traded diamonds for arms, he said neither of the two roads leading to the border between Liberia and Sierra Leone could support vehicles laden with weapons.

One of Mr Taylor's former bodyguards testified last year that he had escorted such vehicles, and the court was shown a photo with a lorry allegedly pictured near the border.

Mr Taylor said on Monday that the accusation was a "lie", also dismissing allegations that he accepted diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone.

An estimated 500,000 people were killed, mutilated or suffered other atrocities in the civil war in Sierra Leone, which lasted from 1991 until 2002.

A verdict in Mr Taylor's trial, which was moved from Sierra Leone to the Netherlands because of security concerns, is expected next year.

Source: bbc news Africa