CAF may take matches away from Japoma stadium Doula

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has met to consider the possible relocation of matches from the Japoma Stadium in Doula due to the poor condition of the pitch.

As at the time of writing this, the stadium has hosted four games and six other games are scheduled to be played in Doula which is Cameroon largest city.

According to the fixtures, there will be a semi-final, two quarterfinals, and a last-eight match.

Sierra Leone’s last-gasp equaliser against Ivory Coast in Group E on Sunday brought the pitch’s condition into sharp focus.

Ivorian goalkeeper Badri Ali Sangare was caught off guard when he appeared to lose his footing while attempting to smother the ball to prevent it from going for a corner, only to fumble it into the path of a waiting Alhaji Kamara who had to recover from his own slip on the surface before putting the ball in the open goal.

Later that evening, in a scrappy match, defending champions Algeria were defeated 1-0 by Equatorial Guinea.

Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi, whose team has played both games on the pitch so far, has criticised the playing surface since the first day games were played on it.

Algeria face Ivory Coast in their final group game on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Douala, with the Desert Foxes needing a win to advance to the last 16.

The Japoma Stadium opened in late 2020 and was first used in January 2021 when Cameroon hosted the African Nations Championship, a tournament for African footballers based in their own domestic leagues.

Guinea Bissau 0-2 Nigeria

Egypt 1- 0 Sudan