Turbulent Cup of Nations to kick off in Cameroon
YAOUNDE: After a turbulent build-up, and still under a cloud of doubt, the Africa Cup of Nations gets underway in Cameroon on Sunday but with the tournament’s long-term future in doubt.
Africa’s support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s proposal to change the frequency of the World Cup to every two years threatens the Cup of Nations, which is already biennial.
Africa’s 54 member associations voted unanimously at last year’s Congress to back the idea of a more frequent World Cup, but without discussing how it would affect their own tournament on a packed international calendavr.
Now expanding to 24 teams, the Cup of Nations is proving to be a strain on resources.
This edition has been twice postponed, first in 2019 when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) found the country was not ready and took it to Egypt instead, and again last January because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cameroon had been awarded the finals in 2014 and built new stadiums in Bafoussam, Douala, Limbe and Yaounde but works on the showpiece Olembe Stadium in Yaounde have continued right up to the start of the tournament, proving a major source of concern and contention. So worried were CAF about the readiness of the venue, plus Cameroon’s general organisational preparedness, that they held an emergency meeting last month to discuss cancelling the tournament.
That was also motivated by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus and the potential impact it might have on the event but in the end it was decided, amid much disagreement, to go ahead.
The timing of the tournament, in the middle of the club season in Europe where the majority of African internationals play, drew the ire of clubs who also sought its cancellation. Managers like Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp–who has lost Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita– have been irritated by the fact they have to give up important players at a crucial juncture of their season.*