AFCON
‘FAMILY WARS’ AS AHMAD ‘CLASHES’ WITH AMAJU AND ROHR BATTLES IN-LAWS
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It should be a battle-royale on Sunday as Nigeria face Madagascar in the final Group B match of the Africa Cup of Nations. On the surface, it looks an ordinary match. But www.sportsvillagesquare.com sees a more in-depth view of the match.
It pitches the two topmost chieftains of CAF against each other. As already known, CAF’s president, Ahmad is from Madagascar, the country that is debuting at the premier continental soccer championship.
His next in command
and one of those who worked to get him elected in 2017 is Amaju Pinnick of
Nigeria whose team, Super Eagles has intention of winning all matches to
reassert its position in Africa.
At least, for once, the bond that ties Ahmad and Amaju will momentarily be broken on Sunday.
The two football politicians are not the only ones facing domestic ‘war’. The Nigerian manager, Gernot Rohr is not left out.
As earlier exclusively
broken by www.sportsvillagesquare.com when the draw was
conducted in April, Rohr will be incurring the wrath of his in-laws on Sunday.
He is married to a Madagascan wife who runs a hotel business for him in the French island of Reunion, which is close to Madagascar.
Not much is known about his wife as Rohr, like many coaches, keeps his personal life out of public view. Sports Village Square can however confirm he has two sons, Oscar Rohr and Emmanuel Rohr. The later is in football management.
Rohr came into contact with Africa through Reunion in 2001 after his French friends told him of the serenity of the island. It was then he opened his first hotel there and once said he would settle there one day.
RELATED STORY: https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2019/04/14/africa-cup-nations-pitch-gernot-rohr-against-his-in-laws/
Rohr would not be the first member of a Super Eagles’ squad to square up against his in-laws at the Africa Cup of Nations. His predecessor as manager of Nigeria, Sunday Oliseh captained the Super Eagles to defeat Tunisia 4-2 in the opening match of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations.
Oliseh is married to a
Tunisian. Rohr’s wife does not follow him to tournaments. At Russia 2018 World
Cup, he told the media that other members of his family would be with him
except his wife who has avoided public glare.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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