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AFCON

Olembe Stadium shut out of AFCON quarter-finals action

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The Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final due to be held at the Olembe Stadium on Sunday will be moved after a fatal crush outside the ground on Monday.

At least eight people were killed and 38 injured as fans struggled to get access to a match between hosts Cameroon and Comoros in Yaounde.

All Nations Cup matches will remember victims with a minute’s silence.

The Confederation of African Football and world governing body FIFA have sent condolences to the affected families.

Two children, aged six and 14, were among the dead, and seven people were seriously injured in the crush.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe visited injured supporters in hospital and the scene outside the Olembe Stadium on Tuesday, and later said he was “sad and hurt” by the incident.

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Motsepe added that Caf must take responsibility for the crush along with the local organising committee and the Cameroonian government.

“We have a duty to find out exactly what happened and more importantly to put in preventative measures to ensure that what happened never happens again,” he said.

“There were deficiencies, weaknesses, failures, things that should have been foreseen.

“When people lose their lives you must be angry and demand explanations and guarantees that it will never happen again.”

The Olembe Stadium, newly constructed to host the tournament, has a capacity of 60,000 but was not meant to be more than 80% full because of Covid-19 restrictions.

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However, match officials were quoted as saying that as many as 50,000 people were trying to attend Monday’s match.

The ground held the opening ceremony and is due to host a semi-final and the Nations Cup final on Sunday, 6 February.

Sunday’s quarter-final is now set to be played at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde instead.

Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar issued a statement on behalf of the squad, saying the Indomitable Lions “deeply wail” after hearing about fatalities and injuries.

“To the families of the victims, [we] extend their heart-felt condolences and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Aboubakar said.

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“The Indomitable Lions urge the football fans in Cameroon and Africa to be highly disciplined and responsible within and outside the stadiums so that football matches in general and the 2021 Nations Cup remain festive moments.

“[We] also call for the preservation of security, brotherhood and shared happiness in the stadiums.”

Football’s world governing body FIFA has sent its “deepest condolences” to families and friends of the victims of a crush outside a stadium at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

“Fifa sends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following the tragic incident that took place at Olembe Stadium,” the statement from FIFA said.

“The thoughts and prayers of the global football community are with the victims, the ones who have been injured in this incident, and all the staff of both CAF and the Cameroonian Football Association (Fecafoot) at this difficult moment.”

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Cameroonian President Paul Biya ordered an investigation into the “tragic incident”, while CAF is in in “constant communication” with the Cameroonian government and the local organizing committee and has also launched its own investigation.

Former Cameroon midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba attended the last-16 game, which Cameroon won 2-1, and said news of the incident was “heart-breaking”.

“It is very shocking as people were coming to the stadium to watch football, and people have died,” the 40-year-old, who had a spell at Manchester United from 2003 to 2005, told the BBC World Service.

“We were inside and suddenly we heard people had died outside the stadium.

“It is the worst possible news because Cameroon did everything to play the tournament in Cameroon and built big stadiums. I think for me it is very sad.

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“It will be difficult (for people to focus back on the tournament) because families will cry. Some people go to the stadium to support Cameroon, to support their team play, but it is the worst thing to happen to Cameroon.”

Cote D’ Ivoire coach Patrice Beaumelle, whose side face Egypt in the last 16 today, also sent his condolences to victims’ families.

“The team is trying to stay focused on football although as human being they cannot be indifferent,” Beaumelle said.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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AFCON

Libya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria

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Milutin Sredojević

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.

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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.

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AFCON

CAF president blasts Ghana, others over stadium ban

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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.

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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.

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AFCON

Present and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen

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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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