By Velile Mnyandu
There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of this week around the staging of the 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon from 09 January to 06 February, until CAF President President Patrice Motsepe with the support of the majority of his CAF Exco stepped up and ensured that this tournament would take place.
iDiski Times has learnt from reliable sources who were closer to the decision making processes this week on the sterling role that Motsepe played to ensured that the tournament would indeed take place despite the rumours that it would be postponed or cancelled due to the outbreak of Omicron variant of Covid-19 around the world.
It would be recalled that Cameroon were supposed to have held the AFCON 2019 edition and it ended up moving to Egypt due to the lack of preparedness at the time but since then they have held the 2019 CHAN tournament and most of their venues are ready. There were concerns about the Olembe stadium in Yaoundé where the opening game between Cameroon and Burkina Faso is scheduled to take place but everything appears to be on track now.
With African football authorities under pressure from European football clubs who were threatening not to release players for the AFCON, it’s also believed that the CAF Exco itself was divided on this matter with some members especially those from North Africa alleged to be behind the push for the tournament to be postponed. And this came at a time when the countries from the Maghreb region had just concluded the inaugural FIFA Arab Cup which was won by the reigning African Champions Algeria beating Tunisia in the final, a tournament which was played
Sensing the uncertainty around a tournament which is mainly known as the cash cow of African football, Motsepe knew that there was a lot at stake if this AFCON tournament ended up not taking place. With the coffers of CAF having been strained since the previous regime of Ahmad Ahmad decided to unilaterally cut ties with French based sport rights company Lagardere Sports, not staging the AFCON would have brought the African football mother body closer to bankruptcy.
After having flown from Doha, Qatar on his private jet accompanied by his Vice-President and Senegalese FA President Augustin Senghor, newly elected Cameroon Football Association (Fecafoot) President and football legend Samuel Eto’o and joined by Cameroonian Ministers, Motsepe made it known to the world that the AFCON would take place in Cameroon as planned when he spoke to the local media.
“I will be in Cameroon on January 7 with my wife and kids to witness this incredible competition. And on January 9, I will be watching the opening game between Cameroon and Burkina Faso,” said Motsepe.
This was just shortly after meeting Cameroon President Paul Biya, and in what would be seen as confirming these doubting Thomases within his executive and with ulterior motives, Motsepe urged again for all African to pull into the same direction.
“We have to have confidence and belief in ourselves as Africans. And we have to have confidence and belief that we can host a very successful Nations Cup in Cameroon,” he said.
Eto’o, an all-time AFCON leading goal scorer and one of the best footballers to have been produced in Africa, has only been a Fecafoot President for two weeks and found himself an integral part of this big decision. The big words he threw out this week about those who didn’t want to see the AFCON taking place in Cameroon as coming from within, was another sign of division at the highest level.
“The federation that I represent will strongly defend the competition. The Euros were played in the middle of the pandemic with full stadiums. Why shouldn’t we play? We must be clear on this aspect,” said Eto’o on the interview on Canal Plus.
The Barcelona legend also later posted a tweet which praised Motsepe’s push for the AFCON in Cameroon this week….”What an honour to be able to build towards the success of Africa Cup of Nations next to the visionary Patrice Motsepe, President of CAF.”
The UEFA Euro Championship and CONMEBOL’s Copa America tournaments were postponed last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak and were held successfully earlier this year despite some of the host countries also struggling with the surge of the Covid19 cases.
It’s time for Africa to make its own decisions without the outside influence and hopefully that is something that Motsepe would have learned from the events of this week and start to practice going forward and leave a good legacy at this 54-member organisation and for African football.
One leading figure in African football remarked that the former Mamelodi Sundowns President was strong this week around this AFCON decision in Cameroon and to effect real and tangible change in African football, that’s what is required.
Photo credit: @SamuelEtoo
