AFCON
Algeria hit out after cancelled Cup of Nations warm-up with Gambia
African champions Algeria have hit out at fellow finalists Gambia after the cancellation of a planned friendly between the two countries ahead of next weekend’s kick off of the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
A tersely worded statement from the Algerian Football Federation accused Gambia of calling off the game, scheduled for Saturday in Doha, Qatar, for spurious reasons and said it would demand financial compensation.
But the Gambia Football Federation said 16 of their 28-man squad players were unavailable, including all of their goalkeepers.
“Because we do not have a goalkeeper, we are forced to call off our matches against Algeria and Syria,” Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said.
“We have had so many unpredictable situations making it very difficult to prepare for the Cup of Nations that we’re not happy with, but no one is blamed.”
He did not give reasons for the players’ absence but there have been COVID-19 infections among all African teams preparing in the Middle East ahead of the tournament in Cameroon, while other Gambian players have weekend club commitments in Europe.
Algeria’s statement suggested Gambia could have made more of an effort to fly in reserve goalkeepers so that the warm-up match could go ahead.
“The Gambian side decided unilaterally and a few hours before the match to cancel the game on the pretext that they were missing a goalkeeper!” said the federation.
“The Algerian Football Federation deplores this attitude which shows a great lack of professionalism and respect towards those who have put everything in place for the success of this preparation match.”
Algeria said they too had problems with two goalkeepers unavailable on Saturday but had flown in a back-up for the match.
“Also, the offhand reaction of the Gambia coach, who did not hesitate to make announcement even before the official cancellation decision was made, is also an inelegant act,” the Algerian federation continued.
“The Algerian Football Federation will assert its rights with regard to the costs incurred, just as it will take the necessary steps to denounce the derogatory attitude of the Gambian side.”
Algeria will play a friendly against Ghana in Qatar on Wednesday before heading to Cameroon to defend their crown.
Their first game at the tournament is a Group E clash against Sierra Leone on Jan. 11.
Gambia, in their first appearance at the finals, begin their Group F campaign against Mauritania on Jan. 12.
-EgyptToday
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has lashed out at Ghana and some other African countries whose home grounds were recently banned from hosting CAF matches owing to inadequate facilities. He made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya during a press conference,
After the MatchDay 2 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, CAF ruled Ghana’s Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as being inadequate to host international matches. Being the only approved ground in the country, Ghana will now look towards either Cote d’Ivoire or Togo for their remaining home matches of the Afcon qualifiers.
Other African countries without approved home grounds are: Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé and Burundi.
Motsepe voiced his frustration over the recurring issue of nations being unable to host home games.
“Nothing frustrates me more than a national team or club side having to play home matches outside,” he stated.
He stressed the significance of playing in front of home fans, adding, “You can’t grow football if the national teams or club sides aren’t playing in front of their home fans.”
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to working with countries to ensure they have at least one suitable stadium to host international fixtures.
“Our conversations in every country are to make sure there is at least one stadium capable of hosting a CAF category C game,” he emphasized.
The on-going CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire has brought together, the last three coaches that handled the Nigeria national football team.
Gernot Rohr, Jose Peseiro and Austin Eguavoen are part of the the elite coaches currently gathered in Abidjan.
Gernot Rohr whose tenure of 5 years and 55 matches is the longest ever by any coach in Nigeria, is currently handling Nigeria’s Africa Cupof Nations and World Cup qualifying rivals, Benin Republic. He was succeeded in the interim by Austin Eguavoen who is currently having another interim stint.
Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations
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