AFCON
Let this Africa Cup overflow!
By KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is unique and is bound to be a spectacular show. It is a return to the even-numbered year, even if it is a temporary one as the next edition returns to the odd-numbered year.
The hosting of this competition will go down the history books as the one that suffered most postponements. Originally to hold in 2019, it was shifted to another country – Egypt on account of facilities.
Again, it could not hold in 2021, owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Even while moving it to 2022, the June-July new African football calendar could not be followed for climatic reasons.
The competition had to revert to the January – February calendar that was to have been jettisoned since 2017.
Like it happened three years at Egypt 2019, debutants are waiting to cause upsets at the delayed 2021 edition holding in 2022.
Comoros and Guinea Bissau are debutants ready to upstage the existing order just like Madagascar did three years ago in Egypt.
Yet, some powerhouses are glaring absentees. Zambia, South Africa and DR Congo are past champions who are confined to the spectators’ seats watching as Africa’s premier sports competition gets underway.
Absence of powerhouses is however not a new phenomenon. Seven times finalists of which they won three titles, Nigeria have had to suffer painful absence in 1986, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
Record seven-time winners, Egypt could not qualify for the 2013 edition. Even then, some strong teams have been reduced to strugglers in the competition.
The Nigerian side has won the losers’ finals more than any other country. In 2019, they were crowned third place winners for a record extending eight times!
What of the Ghana Black Stars? They were pace-setters, being the first to achieve a hat trick and win eternally, the original trophy after their 1978 victory.
Not done yet, when they won their fourth title in 1982, Coach Charles Gyamfi, a contemporary of Tesilimi Balogun of Nigeria, became the first coach to win the cup three times. He was Ghana’s coach in the successful outings of 1963 and 1965, thus also being the first to guide a team to back-to-back victories.
That has however been shattered by Egypt’s Hassan Shehatan’s success across three tournaments of 2006, 2008 and 2010.
Till date, Africa has witnessed 657 matches in the Africa Cup of Nations. The milestone 500th match was the Botswana versus Mali match in Libreville on 1 February 2012. Statisticians will have to look forward to 14 editions from now for thee 1,000th milestone game.
Perhaps more matches would have been recorded in the competition if entries had been explosive as it is now.
In the beginning, the African Nations Cup in 1957 had just three entries comprising Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia after South Africa, part founders of CAF, were thrown out owing to the prevailing apartheid policy.
By 1962, entry had risen to eight with the Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, Uganda and the then Zanzibar joining CAF. That necessitated the very first qualifying series that produced four finalists.
The competition expanded in 1963 from four finalists to six. More countries entered the 1965 edition in Tunisia, but the six-team format was retained. The edition which was the last to be held in an odd year witnessed the first political problem.
Egypt withdrew for not having diplomatic relationship with Tunisia. In its place, Sudan was invited, but declined. Then Congo was invited and accepted. Also, for the first time, leader in a group was decided by a toss of coin when Tunisia and Senegal tied on points. Tunisia won the toss.
By 1968 in Ethiopia, the format attained a definitive form of two groups with four teams and 16 matches in all. That format held on till Senegal ’92 when Isa Hayatou expanded the finalist teams from eight to 12.
They were divided into four groups of three teams. The oddity of the format was that a team was almost guaranteed qualifying for the quarter finals after winning its opening match.
Since 1998 in Burkina Faso, the 16 team format was adopted which changed to 24 at the 2019 edition.
Not always a smooth organisation, the Africa Cup of Nations had sometimes being enmeshed in political wrangling. The first time politics crept in was at the inaugural edition when South Africa was thrown out.
In 1965, Egypt pulled out for political reasons. The country was almost boycotting the 1990 edition in Algeria, almost for the same reasons after a bitterly contested game in the World Cup qualifying series and also, perhaps, a follow-up to the bitterness that had existed between Algeria and Egypt since a riot infest football match at the All Africa Games of Algiers ’78.
Nigeria also pulled out of the 1996 edition in South Africa after a political row that followed the execution of the “Ogoni 9”.
Hosting too, suffered instability. For instance, the 1980 edition hosted by Nigeria was originally awarded to Senegal in 1976.
Also, Morocco replaced Zambia as the 1988 hosts just as Nigeria and Ghana were called in to co-host the 2000 edition when Zimbabwe could not cope with the logistics.
Even the edition of 1996 which South Africa hosted was originally awarded to Kenya. Again, South Africa hosted the 2013 edition in place of politically troubled Libya.
The African Football Confederation (CAF) and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) have sealed a historic strategic partnership that grants Morocco’s national airline the status of “Official Global Partner” for upcoming major African football competitions.
The agreement was signed Saturday morning in Casablanca, in the presence of Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaâ.
This partnership encompasses several prestigious tournaments, including the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (AFCON) 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026) and CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (WAFCON) 2024 (July 5-26, 2025).
The agreement also covers CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF Champions League 2024/2025 Finals, CAF Confederation Cup 2024/2025 Finals, and the CAF Women’s Champions League 2025.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe voiced enthusiasm about the collaboration.
“We are excited about the partnership between CAF and Royal Air Maroc, a world-class airline that will provide comfort and fly NationalTeams participating in the CAF competitions,” he said.
“We are confident that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will be the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition.”
The agreement strengthens RAM’s footprint across Africa and globally, solidifying its role as a strategic gateway between Africa and the rest of the world. It also aligns with Morocco’s emergence as an international sports hub, with the country preparing to host AFCON 2025 and co-host the FIFA World Cup 2030.
RAM’s Chairman and CEO Hamid Addou stated: “This historic partnership with CAF aligns fully with our strategic vision as an airline deeply rooted in Africa and committed to its development.”
“Royal Air Maroc doesn’t just connect destinations; it builds bridges between cultures and passions. By supporting the continent’s biggest football competitions, we reaffirm our role as a facilitator of human and sporting exchanges,” he continued.
500,000 supporters expected
Beyond its partnership role, RAM will implement an exceptional operational system to meet increased demand during CAF competitions. The airline plans to welcome over 500,000 supporters for AFCON 2025.
“We believe we will surpass this figure by far,” revealed Addou. “We will be ready to accommodate these supporters across Royal Air Maroc’s entire network.”
The airline intends to double seat capacity from qualified countries already served by RAM, such as Dakar, Abidjan, Cairo, Tunis, Bamako, Lagos, and Douala.
RAM will also intensify flight frequencies from European cities with large African communities, including Paris, Brussels, Milan, London, Marseille, Lyon, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Additionally, the airline will establish a dedicated program for domestic air transport of national teams, shuttling them between their base camps and host cities.
This positioning establishes RAM as the primary connector between Africa and Europe through its Casablanca hub. FRMF President Fouzi Lekjaâ noted that the contract “reinforces Royal Air Maroc’s first-rate leadership role in Africa.”
“Royal Air Maroc is no stranger to football,” Lekjaâ added. “It has always supported generations of our athletes and footballers here in Morocco.”
“With this expertise and experience, they will contribute significantly to making AFCON 2025 Morocco exceptional, a historic turning point in African football, cultural coexistence and African cultural exchange,” he concluded.
Addou stressed RAM’s commitment to African unity: “We are all extremely proud to be African, and in every corner of this vast and magnificent continent, we share the same ambition—to actively contribute to Africa’s development and influence.”
The RAM CEO concluded by inviting everyone to upcoming CAF calendar events: “We’ll see you very soon for the great moments ahead in the CAF calendar, particularly the Women’s AFCON starting in July and, of course, the men’s AFCON, which kicks off on December 25.”
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The presidents of the regional councils concerned by the hosting of the matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco-2025) unanimously affirmed that the implementation of infrastructure projects in anticipation of this continental event “is progressing at a sustained pace”, declaring themselves “fully mobilized” to crown with success the major sporting events scheduled in the Kingdom.
They specified, in statements to the press in Rabat following a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior devoted to the assessment of the progress of the construction and rehabilitation works of the stadiums, that major sports infrastructure projects are underway in the six host cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir.
The President of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council, Abdellatif Maâzouz, announced that the projects planned for upcoming international sporting events, in particular the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, “are proceeding under good conditions.”
The projects related to the organisation of the AFCON will be ready by next July at the latest, he assured, specifying that there is a clear vision regarding the preparations underway for the AFCON and the 2030 World Cup, both in terms of equipment and organisational arrangements related to human resources and animation.
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AFCON
‘Land of Football’ is ‘Kingdom of Light’ as Moroccan Tourism Office and Football Federation Strike Accord
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Morocco’s football federation and tourism office have signed a groundbreaking agreement to establish the country as a major football and tourism destination leading to the milestone 2030 World Cup when the global football tournament clocks a century.
The Moroccan football body and the Tourism Office are building on the national team’s recent international success.
Though with just one success in the Africa Cup of Nations, Moroccan football soars higher than the rest in Africa and the Arab world at the World Cup.
Apart from being the only African and Arab country to have reached the World Cup semi-final stage, Morocco in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico became the first African team not to be defeated in a World Cup match when they forced Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw on 11 June.
Again, in Mexico, this time at the 1986 World Cup, Morocco became the first African team to top a group and cross the group stage.
They were just two minutes away from a major upset of West Germany in the round of 16 before Lothar Matthäus’ back-breaking goal.
The success of the football team and the tourism potential of Morocco have found a harmonious chord.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the National Moroccan Tourism Office (ONMT) will work together under the banner “Morocco, Land of Football,” placing the sport at the heart of the country’s tourism strategy.
“More than an institutional partnership, this convention is a shared vision: that of a Morocco that shines through football and makes it a lever for promotion, pride and tourist attractiveness,” ONMT said in a statement released after the signing.
The timing of this collaboration is strategic, coming ahead of two major sporting events: the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
The initiative builds on widespread public enthusiasm following the Atlas Lions’ historic World Cup performance in 2022.
Under the agreement, both organizations will implement an integrated communication strategy combining visibility campaigns, influence marketing, and joint promotional activities.
The initiative will mobilize iconic figures from Moroccan football to bring this vision to life, to showcase the country’s world-class sporting facilities, rich cultural heritage, and diverse tourist attractions.
ONMT has launched a major offensive at making Morocco, the ultimate tourism and business destination as the clock ticks down to the 35th Africa Cup of Nations holding in December.
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