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Morocco can count on the unconditional support of Congolese supporters, players and technical staff when they meet Cameroon for the semi-final of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) on Wednesday 3 February. Because, in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi or Goma as on social networks, the treatment of the Leopards – nickname of the Congolese selection – before the Cameroon-DRC quarter-final (2-1), on Saturday, January 30, continues to fuel the controversy. .
The stay of Congolese in Cameroon, host country of CHAN, was indeed marked by an outbreak of positive tests for Covid-19. ” In the first round, we learned that several players and technical staff, including myself, were positive. This means that you are placed in solitary confinement, that the players cannot train. Against Niger, during the last match of the group stage, my team was already down », Recalls Florent Ibenge, the Congolese coach, contacted by The World Africa. New tests carried out before the game against Cameroon finally revealed up to thirteen positive cases.
The situation ended up alerting the members of the Congolese delegation, who decided to have a second opinion carried out, with the agreement of the African Football Confederation (CAF), by a laboratory chosen by the authority. The results disclosed the day before the quarter-final revealed that only two Congolese players and a physiotherapist tested positive for Covid-19, angering Florent Ibenge. ” It’s scandalous. This means that we placed in isolation people who were not sick, that players were not able to train when they were able to do so, and therefore to play. », Protests the coach.
Diametrically opposed perception
Former Congolese international denounces possibilities “Shenanigans” from Cameroonians. “ Do Cameroon need this to win a game? “, he pretends to wonder, before claiming : “If illegal things have been done, Cameroon must be sanctioned. “
On the Cameroonian side, the perception of the problem is diametrically opposed. ” We damage our image. Here, many people believe that CAF allowed Congolese players to play against the Indomitable Lions while they were positive for Covid-19 », Answers the member of a local football governing body, on condition of anonymity.
According to this source, it is first of all on the role of the African Confederation that we must question in this case. ” The Congolese have passed several tests since their arrival, with many positives. And during a second opinion carried out with the agreement of CAF, we learn that only three players are affected. Here, we remember that the interim CAF president was, until the return of Ahmad Ahmad [le 1er février] Constant Omari, a Congolese, who is also president of the Congolese federation (FECOFA). We are also entitled to ask ourselves questions. “
