Ahmad rings the changes
African Nations Cup to be a summer tournament
Changes to the format of the African Nations Cup and the two annual African club competitions were finally made in the wake of the exit of Issa Hayatou, as new president Ahmad of Madagascar seeks to make an impact on the Confederation of African Football.
At a two-day symposium in Rabat, he delivered on his promise of a forum where CAF would listen to suggestions on how best to change the game on the continent. In his election campaign, before toppling Hayatou in March, Ahmad said he would be a leader who would consult all stakeholders – including former top players, who he invited to Morocco to join in the deliberations. And such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Abedi Pele and Joseph-Antoine Bell seemed genuinely delighted to finally be given a voice, even if they were mostly shuffled off to a workshop about player mentoring.
The real business at the symposium concerned the African Nations Cup, the African Champions League and the African Confederation Cup, and that appeared to have all been worked out beforehand, with the conclave simply a rubber-stamp.
Keeping the frequency of the Nations Cup to every two years but moving it to the middle of the year – meaning players no longer have to deal with club-versus-country conflicts – was expected, and not before time too. Hayatou had dug in his heels about this on the grounds of the weather, but in reality it was because he did not want to be dictated to by European clubs. African sensibilities over how Europe perceives the continent run deep and offence is often taken, even though the European footballing products enjoy slavish devotion.
What was unexpected was the decision to open up the finals to 24 teams, ostensibly to chase increased revenue but suspiciously also a play to allow Morocco to host the 2019 finals in place of Cameroon in a final humiliation of the Hayatou era.
It was on the eve of the symposium, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation’s ambitious president Faouzi Lekjaa lifted the lid on the ruse. “Cameroon had to organise the Nations Cup in the old format [of 16 teams],” he explained. “Whether Cameroon will be able to fulfill the new specifications, we will only know in the coming days.
“In case of them not having the capacity, other countries will be invited to replace them. Morocco will be in the race. Morocco will not hesitate for a second to respond favourably to a CAF request to host this Nations Cup. Moreover, because in 2015 at the time of Ebola epidemic, Cameroon’s management [Hayatou] deprived us of the organisation of this competition.
“In 2019, we will replace Cameroon as host of the Nations Cup. It is the revenge of history.”
In September there will be an inspection trip to Cameroon and doubts will probably be raised about their ability to handle the new requirements. They might be diplomatically given more time to find the resources to host a 24-team competition – say the 2021 finals – allowing Morocco to ride to the rescue for 2019.
Morocco spent several million dollars organising the seminar and has signed a multitude of co-operation agreements with other African countries. It is offering
training camps, friendly matches and technical equipment, and a hastily created third vice-presidency of CAF is Lekjaa’s first reward.
The expanded Nations Cup means the list of future hosts who can handle the infrastructure and financial demands will be limited. But Ahmad argues that Europe is not exactly endowed with too many nations who can handle their expanded continental competition, insisting: “Africa has the possibility to host tournaments with the 24 teams, that is not a dream.”
Changing the timing of the finals lifts immense pressure off players who are increasingly caught in a tug of war between club and country when the finals were held in January. The spectre of many refusing to go to future finals loomed large. Now everyone can breathe easy once again.
The argument that the finals could not be moved as the weather would either be too hot or too rainy were unscientific and without real substance. If that was indeed the case, why did FIFA give Africa the right to host the 2010 World Cup? Or why did CAF schedule the matches of the newly expanded Champions League and Confederation Cup through the months of May to July this year?
That will no longer be happening after the decision to now play the two club cups from August to May, as is the case with the UEFA club competitions.
It takes the pressure off most clubs who have had to give up their off-season to play in the group phase.
But whether this change takes effect next year – will there be a 2018-19 Champions League and Confederation Cup? – remains unclear.
And on this matter, Ahmad points out that “we still have to look at this and the harmonisation of the football calendar”.