AFCON
Africa Cup of Nations organisers confident no repeat of Cameroon tragedy
All is on track for African football’s biennial showpiece, the Africa Cup of Nations, according to organisers in the Ivory Coast who are confident their security measures will prevent a repeat of the tragedy that overshadowed the 2022 edition in Cameroon.
Cote d’Ivoire may be one of the heavyweights in African football but this will be only the second time they host the finals, after 1984 when the tournament featured just eight teams instead of the 24 this time round.
The competition runs from January 13 to February 11 with Senegal defending the title they won for the first time after beating Egypt on penalties.
It retains its 2023 moniker despite the decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in July last year to postpone it from the original dates in the northern hemisphere summer owing to fears over staging matches during the rainy season.
Around $1.5 billion has been invested which includes funding improved roads — principally a complete overhaul of the 350-kilometre coastal road which links Abidjan — the economic capital — to the port city of San Pedro, cutting in half the travel time between the two.
Aside from the external security risk posed by jihadists based in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, Ivorian authorities have moved to quell fears over crowd control which has been the source of most anxiety due to what happened in Yaounde two years ago.
The last-16 clash between hosts Cameroon and the Comoros resulted in eight dying and dozens injured due to a crush as home fans piled in to watch.
Youssouf Kouyate, director-general of the Ivory Coast police, told AFP they had measures in place for all six stadia to avoid a similar tragedy — with organisers expecting 1.5 million fans from outside the country.
“We are going to open the gates to the stadia very early, we will ensure the spectators form an orderly queue so they can enter the stadium without any trouble,” he said.
“We are going to demand spectators come early.”
There will be some 17,000 soldiers and police deployed for the tournament and 2,500 stadium staff.
“It is after all not the first big sporting event Ivory Coast has had to organise,” said Kouyate.
“We hosted the Francophone Games (in 2017). We are calm.”
– ‘Fit for purpose’ –
It was not so calm a few months ago when to the embarrassment of the organisers torrential rain flooded the pitch at the 60,000-capacity Ebimpe Olympic Stadium which had been specially constructed at enormous cost for the tournament.
The stadium is due to host 10 matches including the opening game between Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau on January 13, and the final on February 11.
The authorities put it down to a freak downpour but all the same it resulted in Patrick Achi and Paulin Danho being removed from their posts as prime minister and sports minister respectively.
Achi’s successor Robert Beugre Mambe — who also assumed the role of sports minister — has been charged with “organising the most beautiful Africa Cup of Nations in history”.
Three months on from the shame of the flooding it appears under Mambe’s stewardship the pitch is now resistant to a similar catastrophe.
“We were all disturbed by what we saw,” said Idriss Diallo, president of the Ivorian football federation, at the beginning of December whilst sitting in a stand at the stadium with rain tipping down.
“But the authorities took the matter in hand and the pitch has been completely relaid.”
“It is fit for purpose,” he added.
There have been concerns that the main stadium plus the five others to be used in Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Bouake, San Pedro and Korhogo will become white elephants.
Organisers hope that the First Division teams — the majority of whom play in Abidjan — will attract larger crowds due to the proximity of the stadia.
Diallo thinks there will also be a knock-on effect globally.
“Thanks to our stadia we will become a hub for teams in the region who do not have such facilities,” he said.
“Before they all went to play in Morocco, now they will come here.”
-AFP
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
The goalless outing of Rwanda and Nigeria in Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifying match has thrown up some lessons, according to New Times, the leading newspaper in Rwanda.
New Times reckons that both teams put up a great show as Amavubi showed their pedigree against one of the giants in African football. It then pointed out the five elements that shaped the game.
Amavubi played with total confidence
No African country comes close to Nigeria in terms of “big players” country. Almost all their players are playing for top clubs in Europe’s top leagues but that did not deter Frank Spittler’s men.
They played with total confidence and self-belief. At a point in the game, Rwanda and APR FC left-back Claude Niyomugabo was mesmerizing former Chelsea and Lazio player Ola Aina who is now with Nottingham forest to the point that he was booked his jersey when he couldn’t match his pace.
Confidence among Rwandan players was high and it helped them to get goalless draw results.
Bizimana, the midfield controller
The Amavubi skipper pocketed Nigerian midfield led by Wilfred Ndidi. He run a one-man show in the middle of the pitch as he was unplayable.
His passes and tackles were superb. He track-backed several times as deep as his own penalty box to win balls.
Lookman’s danger left Rwandan defense shaking
Victor Osimhen is arguably Nigeria’s star man but it is clear that Ademola Lookman is the most dangerous player in the team.
He could hold on the ball, dribble, shoot and pass. The Atalanta winger was the best player for the visitors as he gave Amavubi a tough time before being substituted in the 89th minute for Taiwo Awoniyi.
Amavubi’s attacking problem
“The only problem with my team is in attack. You could see the difference between my attackers and the Nigerian attackers but that is what we have now. Maybe it is the Nigerian attackers who should have played against the Nigerian defenders. We created some chances but couldn’t score.”
These were some of the comments made by Amavubi head coach Torsten Spittler in the post-match press conference.
Rwanda looked solid both at the back and in midfield but the likes of Innocent Nshuti and Gilbert Mugisha weren’t up to the task in attack.
They wasted three good chances that could have resulted in goals.
Goal scoring is a problem for Amavubi and Spittler is ready to find an antidote. The German gaffer was, however, happy that his team was able to create chances which is a sign of improvement.
Fiacre Ntwari’s heroics
The Amavubi shot stopper was the hero of the day for Rwanda, and he has showed why he is among the best goalkeepers in Africa now.
Against a rampaging Nigerian attack of Victor Boniface, Osimhen, Lookman, Awoniyi and Samuel Chukwueze among others, Ntwari pulled as many as nine superb saves to keep his side in the game.
The Kaizer Chiefs shot stopper was very cool in the posts as he prevented the Nigerian attackers from scoring.
Ntwari, is gradually carving a niche for himself and he is proving to be a key component of the Amavubi set up.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has clarified the position of interim manager of the Super Eagles, Austin Eguavoen. “He is still in charge”, the NFF Head of Communications, Ademola Olajire told Sports Village Square, this Wednesday.
Austin Eguavoen who is the Technical Director at the NFF was drafted to handle the Super Eagles when the negotiation with Germany’s Bruno Labbadia broke down. Eguavoen, a former Super Eagles player and later coach was drafted to rescue the situation.
It was claimed that having executed the Super Eagles’ immediate assignments, his job was done. But the NFF spokesman has clarified that nothing has changed from the initial announcement concerning Eguavoen.
“He remains with the team and his is an employee of the NFF which has drafted him to the Super Eagles. He remains there until the federation takes another decision.
“He was surprised when we landed from our Kigali trip and I showed the trending news on the social media.”
The Super Eagles’ next assignment will be on MatchDay 3 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month when the team hosts Libya in Uyo.
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