CHAN
CHAN suffers setback as champions, Morocco pull out
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Sports and politics have had yet another head-on-collision as defending champions for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) Morocco pulled out of the tournament barely 24 hours to the kick-off.
The withdrawal is anchored on hosts, Algeria refusal to grant the Moroccan team, a direct flight from their capital, Rabat to Algiers.
Algerian government rejected its request for the team to fly there directly on Morocco’s national airline, the Moroccan football federation said on Thursday.
Algeria closed its airspace to Moroccan aircraft in 2021 after it unilaterally severed diplomatic ties with its North African neighbour.
It was in similar circumstance, also premeditated by politics, that the American government refused the Nigerian contigent to the USA ‘94 a direct flight.
In two trips, the first ferrying the Super Eagles and the second carrying the supporters and the media personnel, the Nigerian Airways had to terminate their flights at Dakar Senegal and got persengers disembarked and had to reboard the flights to Dallas, Texas in the US.
In the on-going situation, it is not clear if CAF will ban Morocco for the the last minute withdrawal. The Moroccans are to open their title defence against Sudan on Sunday.
The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino is already in Algeria for the championship.
The Moroccan football body had earlier written to the CAF stating that their team would only take part if its team could take a direct flight to Algeria with Royal Air Maroc.
Both Algeria and Morocco have been having political differences tied to the future of Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco regards as its own but where Algeria backs an armed independence movement.
With the unfolding event, the likelihood of awarding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations to either of the two nations look very remote.
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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