International Football
Sweeping Changes for Africa Cup Calendar, Next Hosts
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
New CAF President, Ahmad, who goes by just one name, has announced the possibility of changing the timing of the Africa Cup of Nations.
According to Egyptian publication, Ahram, Ahmad also spoke on the possibility of altering the qualification process for the junior tournaments – U17 and U20.
“I will be discussing with as many stake holders as there around African football to come up with the best solution for the problems,” Ahmad was reported to have told a press conference in Johannesburg after meeting with presidents of southern Africa’s football associations.
Ahmad said he would also consider switching the hosting of the Nations Cup from January to mid-year and also look at its two-year frequency.
“It is the big stars who make this tournament and I will be talking to them to see how they feel. This is something where we need to consider many different points of view,” he said.
African footballers at European clubs are under increasing pressure to forego the tournament because it falls in the middle of their club season.
Ahead of January’s finals in Gabon, nine players took the unprecedented step of turning down call-ups to play for the country in order to stay at their clubs.
In the past, Africa’s premier football competition was often held in March. It an initial experiment of hosting it in January at Senegal 1992, the competition adopted the January to February belt beginning with South Africa 1996.
It was also in South Africa 2013 that the calendar changed to the odd numbered year.
Ahmad said CAF would also look at regionalising qualification for its Under-20 and Under-17 Championship.
Phillip Chiyangwa, president of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations, said his organisation would also seek to reverse CAF’s decision to host the next three Nations Cup tournaments in francophone countries in West Africa.
The 2019 tournament is to be held in Cameroon, the 2021 finals in the Cote d’Ivoire Coast 2023 was handed to Guinea.
“They were politically aggressively awarded to those countries. Only one region is benefiting from all competitions,” he said. “There must be a commission of enquiry into how this came about and we are going to protest it.”
Ahmad takes charge of his first CAF executive committee meeting in Bahrain on May 8, just days before the FIFA Congress.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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