From Cape to Cairo, this Caf is ours, not only for the north
What does Caf stand for?
Confederation of African Football, right?
Wrong.
Wrong. Wrong.
It appears that Caf has assumed a new name: Confederation of NORTH African Football.
It is just that the North is silent and invisible. But the signs that point to the power being held in the northern hemisphere are too glaring to ignore.
In fact they are visible even to a blind mouse. How so?
Well, look at the rubbish that happened this week.
The Confederation of NORTH African Football decided to reinstate Ismaily into the Caf Champions League.
Context: Ismaily were expelled from the competition after their fans had an irresistible urge to throw water bottles and stones onto the pitch.
For the actions of their fans, who forced the abandonment of their home fixture against Club Africain, a Tunisian outfit, the Egyptian club was jettisoned.
This was during their Group C clash on January 18.
But lo and behold, that decision has been bizarrely reversed and Ismaily were spirited back into the competition this week.
Why?
Because the violence — which brought an early end to the match as a section of the supporters hurled stones and bottles at the assistant referee and Club Africain players — was apparently not directed at Club Africain.
If this is not a load of deluded logic, than nothing is.
So the clowning crowd is saying those throwing numbskulls were just throwing
It seems that Caf are acting in an excessively subservient manner to Egypt, hosts of the upcoming Nations Cup
objects into space just for control, huh?
The actions of those fans had nothing to do with fanning the flames of violence. Clearly those were not stones and bottles. They were roses and chocolates.
Theirs was just harmless extramural activity.
Let me peddle a theory.
The team also known as the Egyptian Samba plays out of Ismalia Stadium.
That venue is one of the arenas that will stage matches of the Africa Cup of Nations, which Egypt will host in four months’ time.
It seems to me that Caf are acting in an excessively subservient manner to Egypt, who were awarded the upcoming
Nations Cup after Cameroon were stripped of the hosting rights owing to the snail’s pace in their preparations.
They are beside themselves with fear, scared of the ultras who would have used the occasion of games staged in their stadium to voice the displeasure with their team’s disqualification.
Call me a nutter and I’ll happily retort it takes one to see one.
All this happens in the supposed new dawn of Caf president Ahmad Ahmad, who ascended to office with great promise of effecting new changes.
But new broom seems to have only succeeded in elevating the north above everybody else: read Morocco.
How else do we explain that the man from Madagascar looks, acts and sounds like a man whose soul has been captured.
The chairman of the Caf finance committee Fouzi Lekjaa is Moroccan.
His countryman Mokhtari Mohamed is a member of the five-man finance committee.
The secretary-general is Amr Fahmy, an Egyptian who was proposed by Ahmad.
Ahmad spoke of creating a committee of football association presidents to advise him. It is nonexistent.
These concerning shenanigans strengthen the suspicions of those who are singing the chorus that Ahmad has allowed Caf to be captured by the north. It cannot be.
It should not be.
This Caf is ours.
All of us.
From Cape to Cairo.
What does Caf stand for?
Twitter: @bbkunplugged99