By KUNLE SOLAJA.

It is unique and is bound to be a spectacular show. It is a return to the even-numbered year, even if it is a temporary one as the next edition returns to the odd-numbered year.

The hosting of this competition will go down the history books as the one that suffered most postponements. Originally to hold in 2019, it was shifted to another country – Egypt on account of facilities.

Again, it could not hold in 2021, owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Even while moving it to 2022, the June-July new African football calendar could not be followed for climatic reasons.

The competition had to revert to the January – February calendar that was to have been jettisoned since 2017.

Like it happened three years at Egypt 2019, debutants are waiting to cause upsets at the delayed 2021 edition holding in 2022.

Comoros and Guinea Bissau are debutants ready to upstage the existing order just like Madagascar did three years ago in Egypt.

Yet, some powerhouses are glaring absentees.  Zambia, South Africa and DR Congo are past champions who are confined to the spectators’ seats watching as Africa’s premier sports competition gets underway.

Absence of powerhouses is however not a new phenomenon. Seven times finalists of which they won three titles, Nigeria have had to suffer painful absence in 1986, 2012, 2015 and 2017.

Record seven-time winners, Egypt could not qualify for the 2013 edition. Even then, some strong teams have been reduced to strugglers in the competition.

The Nigerian side has won the losers’ finals more than any other country. In 2019, they were crowned third place winners for a record extending eight times!

What of the Ghana Black Stars? They were pace-setters, being the first to achieve a hat trick and win eternally, the original trophy after their 1978 victory.

Not done yet, when they won their fourth title in 1982, Coach Charles Gyamfi, a contemporary of Tesilimi Balogun of Nigeria, became the first coach to win the cup three times. He was Ghana’s coach in the successful outings of 1963 and 1965, thus also being the first to guide a team to back-to-back victories.

 That has however been shattered by Egypt’s Hassan Shehatan’s success across three tournaments of 2006, 2008 and 2010.  

  Till date, Africa has witnessed 657 matches in the Africa Cup of Nations. The milestone 500^th match was the Botswana versus Mali match in Libreville on 1 February 2012. Statisticians will have to look forward to 14 editions from now for thee 1,000th milestone game.

   Perhaps more matches would have been recorded in the competition if entries had been explosive as it is now.

   In the beginning, the African Nations Cup in 1957 had just three entries comprising Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia after South Africa, part founders of CAF, were thrown out owing to the prevailing apartheid policy.

  By 1962, entry had risen to eight with the Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, Uganda and the then Zanzibar joining CAF. That necessitated the very first qualifying series that produced four finalists.

 The competition expanded in 1963 from four finalists to six.  More countries entered the 1965 edition in Tunisia, but the six-team format was retained. The edition which was the last to be held in an odd year witnessed the first political problem.

  Egypt withdrew for not having diplomatic relationship with Tunisia. In its place, Sudan was invited, but declined. Then Congo was invited and accepted. Also, for the first time, leader in a group was decided by a toss of coin when Tunisia and Senegal tied on points. Tunisia won the toss.

 By 1968 in Ethiopia, the format attained a definitive form of two groups with four teams and 16 matches in all. That format held on till Senegal ’92 when Isa Hayatou expanded the finalist teams from eight to 12.

  They were divided into four groups of three teams. The oddity of the format was that a team was almost guaranteed qualifying for the quarter finals after winning its opening match.

 Since 1998 in Burkina Faso, the 16 team format was adopted which changed to 24 at the 2019 edition.

  Not always a smooth organisation, the Africa Cup of Nations had sometimes being enmeshed in political wrangling. The first time politics crept in was at the inaugural edition when South Africa was thrown out.

 In 1965, Egypt pulled out for political reasons. The country was almost boycotting the 1990 edition in Algeria, almost for the same reasons after a bitterly contested game in the World Cup qualifying series and also, perhaps, a follow-up to the bitterness that had existed between Algeria and Egypt since a riot infest football match at the All Africa Games of Algiers ’78.

  Nigeria also pulled out of the 1996 edition in South Africa after a political row that followed the execution of the “Ogoni 9”.

 Hosting too, suffered instability. For instance, the 1980 edition hosted by Nigeria was originally awarded to Senegal in 1976.

Also, Morocco replaced Zambia as the 1988 hosts just as Nigeria and Ghana were called in to co-host the 2000 edition when Zimbabwe could not cope with the logistics.

Even the edition of 1996 which South Africa hosted was originally awarded to Kenya. Again, South Africa hosted the 2013 edition in place of politically troubled Libya.