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The kickoff of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) is due in Cameroon in just three weeks, on Sunday January 9, 2022, but not a day goes by without the organization of the flagship competition of African football is the subject of speculation. After those on a possible relocation to Qatar due to the delays accumulated by Cameroon on various sites, in particular the Olembe stadium in Yaoundé, it is the scenario of an outright cancellation of the tournament that was mentioned, Wednesday, December 15, by the French media RMC.
In question, according to the latter: the Covid-19 epidemic and the emergence of the Omicron variant, identified for the first time in South Africa. Several European clubs, some of which are members of the powerful European Association of Clubs (ECA), sent a letter to the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the African Football Confederation (CAF) on Friday 10 December for express their concerns for lack of announcement on a health protocol.
Thursday, December 16, the Cameroonian government and CAF unveiled the outlines of this protocol. “The supporters will not be able to access the stadiums […] only if they are fully vaccinated and show a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours or a negative antigenic RDT of less than 24 hours’, they announced in a statement released after a meeting between Cameroonian ministers of health, Manaouda Malachie, and sports, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi; the secretary general of CAF, Véron Mosengo-Omba; and the first vice-president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), Céline Eko Mendomo.
“Despite the additional challenge of this pandemic, our CAN must now be played out. Its solemn opening ceremony is scheduled for January 9, 2022 at the Olembe sports complex ” in Yaoundé, affirmed the four signatories of the press release, specifying that CAF would “Call for an internationally recognized independent laboratory to test the players of the qualified national teams and their supervision”.
Club pressures
The World Africa contacted several coaches – Amir Abdou (Comoros), Mohamed Magassouba (Mali), Didier Gomes da Rosa (Mauritania), Tom Saintfiet (Gambia) and Patrice Neveu (Gabon) – to find out if they had been approached by CAF in About a possible cancellation. All replied in the negative. “Cameroon has spent a lot of money to organize the CAN, the coaches have been working on the preparation for months, the players are eager to play in the tournament: it would be incomprehensible if it did not take place and CAF gives in to pressure from a few European clubs, insists Amir Abdou. It surprises me to hear European, and especially English, clubs say that they are afraid of Covid-19 and the Omicron variant, when it is precisely in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, and not in Cameroon, that ‘it circulates the most. “
The clubs fear above all the prolonged absence of the African internationals selected for the competition, who will have to observe a period of quarantine on their return to Europe. Several of them therefore exert more or less pressure on their players, so that they decline the selection.
“This has always been the case, says Patrice Neveu, the Gabon coach. As the CAN is played in January and February [excepté en 2019, où elle s’était déroulée en juin et juillet], so in high season, clubs are forcing so that the players do not go to Africa for several weeks. ” Some members of his team are facing such difficulties this year, he adds: “However, according to the FIFA statutes, the clubs are obliged to release them. “
“More and more complicated”
On the other hand, the coach of Gambia, Tom Saintfiet, of which several internationals play in some of the best championships in Europe (Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium), assures for the moment not to have “No feedback on possible pressures” exerted on them.
In October, Algerian international Andy Delort announced that he was giving up participating in the Pan-African competition in order to devote himself fully to his new club, OGC Nice. Djamel Belmadi, the coach of the Fennecs, then assured that the French Ligue 1 club did not “Did not want his African internationals to compete in the CAN”, what he had denied, just like the player.
By January 9, 2022, rumors are likely to continue to rife. Organize the CAN is “More and more complicated and difficult”, summarized, Thursday, December 16, the coach of Morocco, Vahid Halilhodzic, in an interview with Agence France-Presse, before wondering: “Will it take place or not?” For now, it’s a big battle between different lobbying groups. “