Johannesburg- It does not only rain problems at the Cameroon 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament, it’s actually pouring problems, what with the finals moving from one crisis to another.
This year’s edition of Afcon was jinxed from the time the country’s football authorities were duly awarded the rights eight years ago.
The tournament is beset by a litany of unsavory happenings on and off the field.
As late as November 2018, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took a decision to strip the Cameroonians of the rights to stage the tournament the following year. A new bidding process was opened and the 32nd edition was awarded to Egypt.
At the time, CAF cited the lack of preparedness in terms of the building and readiness of the stadiums, coupled with the English-speaking separatist the violence that has gripped the country’s western regions until today, posing danger to football tourists and locals.
It was at the insistence of South Africa’s CAF president Patrice Motsepe that the finals of Africa’s biggest sporting spectacle, postponed for the third time last year in January due to the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, were held this month until the first week of February.
The tournament kicked off with a bombing incident, but it was the death of eight people during a stampede at the Olembe Stadium in the capital Yaounde on Monday that was a severe blow to the local organizing committee. One life lost in a sporting event is one too many.
Last-minute workmanship hours before kick-off of the opening match between Cameroon and Burkina Faso on January 9 was another blemish.
The venue is a 60 000-seater stadium, but about 80 000 people flocked to the venue when the hosts were due to take on Comoros in the last 16 rounds.
On the field of play, we’ve seen match officials ending matches earlier than the scheduled time, ugly scenes of player ill-discipline have been rife and we’ve seen players charging and threatening referees if they’re unhappy with a decision, even after VAR has been consulted.
The CAF executive committee, Motsepe, and the local organizing committee will take a deep sigh of relief once the final is played at the Olembe Stadium on February 6.
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