CHAN
Algerians are the latest to inaugurate a Nelson Mandela Stadium
Now there are at least three stadiums named Africa nelson Mandela, the former South African president and icon in Africa.
There is the Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth in his native South Africa. There is another one on the Nambool Hill in Uganda. Outside the continent, there is the Nelson Mandela Sports Centre at Neder-Over-Heembeek in Belgium.
The latest arena to bear the name is the just inaugurated Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algeria and will be one of the venues for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) that will open this coming weekend.
The new stadium whose bowel can take 40,000 spectators was opened on Saturday with a friendly match pitching the hosts against Ghana.
Vociferous local football fans and families were also present as the Local Desert Foxes played the Black Galaxies to a goalless draw in the entertaining warm-up match.
The stadium, named in honour of former South African President and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, is located in Baraki – a suburb of Algiers.
It will host its first official international match on Friday, 13 January 2023, when Algeria play Libya in the opening match of the CHAN tournament.
The venue will also host the final of the competition that is meant exclusively for home-based players in Africa on 4th February, 2022.
Algeria coach Abdelmadjid Bougherra expressed his admiration for the new Nelson Mandela Stadium, likening it to some of the top stadiums in Europe.
“To be honest, I felt I was in Europe. The new Nelson Mandela stadium has good pitches and good facilities,” said the former international defender who played for several clubs in Europe for over ten years.
“I am also happy about the fact that we also have European-class stadiums I saw when I was a player in Europe with similar atmosphere and facilities.”
His Ghanaian counterpart Annor Walker also hailed the giant edifice, convinced that it is a sign of Algeria’s good hosting of the impending tournament.
“Honestly, what I saw at Nelson Mandela Stadium made me rejoice. This is a gem which must be cherished by all Africans,” Walker said after the friendly match.
“It has also fully convinced me that Algeria is serious about football and that for this CHAN, everything will go well as far as facilities are concerned.”
The stadium will host national and international matches following its inauguration with the friendly between Algeria and Ghana.
This means it will host some matches of the senior national team the Desert Foxes as well as matches in the domestic leagues.
The clubs based in the city of Algiers like CR Belouizdad and USM Alger will be using the stadium as the venue for some of their home matches.
Ghana and Nigeria are paired together for the third time in the qualifying series for the African Nations Championship. They had met in the 2009 and the 2022 series. The aggregate results were in Ghana’s favour.
First in the 2009 qualifiers, Nigeria squandered a 2-0 first-half lead in Accra and lost 3-2. But going into the return leg played in Calabar, they could not score a goal that could have seen them through on away goal rule as they ended the match 0-0.
In the last edition, Nigeria for the 2023 edition, Nigeria lost 2-0 in Accra but levelled up in Abuja after a late 2-0 win. But in the eventual penalty shoot-out, the Nigerian team lost 5-4.
Will they overcome Ghana this time?
There will be no qualifying series for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in North Africa. This is sequel to the withdrawal of Algeria and Egypt.
With the region entitled to three teams, the remaining three – Morocco, Tunisia and Libya qualify automatically.
The age-long rivalry has again been rekindled as the draw for the 2025 African Nations Championship has pitched Ghana and Nigeria together.
Both teams have a rivalry that dates back to 1951 and will have a confrontation that determines which country will qualify for the tournament which is opened only to domestic players.
It is also a measure of the relative strength of the domestic leagues of the countries. Ghana and Nigeria will play just in the second round of the West Africa Zone B qualifier while Togo and Benin will the first round and the winner play against Niger Republic.
The rivalry of Nigeria and Ghana has gone beyond sports, especially in football, It extends to the culinary industry as each claims to be better in the cooking of Jollof rice, hence the ‘Jollof Rice’ controversy.
In another West Africa Zone B qualifiers, Cote d’Ivoire will face Burkina Faso. The first round of qualifiers will be played on the weekend of 25 – 27 October and 01 – 03 November 2024, with the second round confirmed for 20 – 22 December and 27 – 29 December 2024.
Three nations qualify for the tournament from each zone except the East, where one country qualifies with co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Finals to be played from Feb 1-28, 2025 in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala.
North Region
Libya, Morocco and Tunisia qualify automatically
West A region
First Round
- Sierra Leone v Liberia
Second Round
- Sierra Leone or Liberia v Senegal (holders)
Mauritania v Mali
Guinea v Guinea-Bissau
West B region
First Round
Togo v Benin
Second Round
Togo or Benin v Niger
Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso
Ghana v Nigeria
Central region
Second Round
Equatorial Guinea v Congo Brazzaville
Central African Republic v Cameroon
Chad v Democratic Republic of Congo
East region
First Round
Burundi v Somalia
Ethiopia v Eritrea
Sudan v Tanzania (co-hosts)
South Sudan v Kenya (co-hosts)
Djibouti v Rwanda
Second Round
Burundi or Somalia v Uganda (co-hosts)
Ethiopia or Eritrea v Sudan or Tanzania
South Sudan or Kenya v Djibouti or Rwanda
South region
First Round
Zimbabwe v Eswatini
Lesotho v Namibia
Second Round
Zimbabwe or Eswatini v Madagascar
Lesotho or Namibia v Angola
Mozambique v Zambia
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