AFCON
Oddity: Qatar cancel Algeria-Gambia Afcon friendly match, Gambia have no goalkeeper!
An African Cup of Nations warm-up game between defending champion Algeria and Gambia was called off hours before kick-off in Qatar on Saturday after several Gambia soccer players tested positive for the coronavirus.
Both teams are set to play in the African Cup in Cameroon, which starts next Sunday with doubts that it should go ahead amid the pandemic and so soon after the emergence of the omicron variant.
Gambia said 16 players – more than half the squad – were unavailable for Saturday’s game and it could not field a goalkeeper.
Its soccer federation didn’t mention the virus, only saying the players couldn’t play because of “unforeseen circumstances.”
But Qatar Football Association organizers said the match was called off due to “positive cases of COVID-19 in the Gambia camp.”
Gambia is due to make its African Cup debut but it is unclear how many players may be forced into isolation ahead of its opening game against Mauritania on Jan. 12.
The Algeria soccer federation criticized the late decision to cancel the game, which robbed its team of an important warm up.
The federation said it “deplores this attitude which shows a great lack of professionalism and respect towards the parties who have put everything in place for the success of this preparation match.”
The African Cup is due to open Jan. 9 in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde despite repeated rumors it was going to be canceled, or even moved to a country outside the continent because of the virus.
Top European clubs have expressed concern for their African players and questioned the ability of the Confederation of African Football and Cameroon organizers to prevent outbreaks at the month-long tournament.
Twenty-four teams are set to play in five cities in the Central African country. Cameroon was initially due to host in 2019 but was stripped of that tournament because of serious delays in its preparations.
The tournament was then delayed for a year from 2021 because of the pandemic.
CAF has insisted Africa’s soccer showpiece will go ahead this time and has employed pharmaceutical company UNILAB to oversee virus testing of players and officials from the two dozen teams.
CAF also announced last month that only fans who are fully vaccinated and can present negative tests will be allowed to attend games, a late restriction that was added at the insistence of Cameroon health authorities, who fear the tournament could become a super-spreader.
Africa has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the world and less than 3% of the Cameroon population are fully vaccinated, according to a global analysis by Johns Hopkins University.
-AP
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.
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