The African Cup of Nations will begin next Sunday in Cameroon, when the host faces Burkina Faso in Yaoundé. However, for this to be achieved they had to remain strong in the face of pressure from the ‘mother house’ of football, the reluctance of the European giants to give in to their figures and readjust conditions due to the advance of Ómicron. On the sporting level, the best players will be present with Mané, Salah, Aubameyang and Mahrez as standard bearers.
The 2021 African Cup of Nations is on the eve of the long-awaited development of the competition after health complications that made the qualifying phase difficult and forced the start of the most important event in Africa to be delayed by exactly one year. This Sunday, with Cameroon as the venue, the ball will roll in the last continental tournament of this World Cup cycle that will end with Qatar 2022.
The presence of the coronavirus in recent years has brought serious controversies in the layout of competitions, especially affecting clubs and athletes who work in Europe. Stadiums closed or with reduced capacity, suspensions, unfinished tournaments, outbreaks in campuses, sanitary restrictions …
When it seemed that the adverse context had ended and it was going to be possible to carry out CAN21, the appearance of the Omicron variant raised old problems. The restrictions imposed by European countries, especially the United Kingdom, on civilians from Africa led the Premier League clubs to try to disengage from the responsibility of giving up their players despite being an obligation of FIFA.
Gianni Infantino -president of the world football organizing body-, to fulfill UEFA’s wish, recommended last December to the African Football Confederation to postpone CAN21 again. The motives? Sanitary deterioration in Cameroon, unrest in European clubs and the proximity of the Club World Cup that will be held in the United Arab Emirates from February.
At a conclave in Doha, the CAF brought together the representatives of each Federation to put the Infantino petition to a vote. The result was categorical against the postponement, which only had positive votes from Morocco, Burkina Faso and Egypt. “Our house is a house for Africa. We are very clear in terms of our commitment to make the CAN in Cameroon a success,” said Patrick Motsepe, president of the CAF.
With no bureaucratic or political opportunities that could bring down the championship, the main threat is that Covid-19 allows normal development. The kick-off next Sunday will lead to the 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations.
Algeria will seek the defense of the title in a contest with all its figures
The sporting level, after the twists and turns, will be the ideal one to raise the level of the continental tournament in Africa. The competition format is similar to that of the Eurocup: six groups of four countries, where the first two from each zone and the best four third parties will qualify. From there, the 16 survivors will be measured in one-game elimination series.
The flexibility of the system invites that, barring unlikely surprises, the best teams and flagship players are in the final phase. This CAN21 will also be a test of courage in the face of what will be the playoffs in March for a place in the next World Cup. Of the ten finalists who will settle a ticket to Qatar, the only one absent in Cameroon will be the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The clear favorite of group A is the host. With Toko Ekambi and Eric Choupo Moting as offensive flags, Cameroon has the pressure before its people to travel with some tranquility an accessible area against rivals such as Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Ethiopia.
At B will be one of the main attractions of this edition: Senegal and its golden generation with Sadio Mané at the helm. The Liverpool star will be joined by stars such as goalkeeper Édouard Mendy (Chelsea), Abdou Diallo and Idrissa Gueye (PSG) and Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), among other resounding players from the major European leagues. His biggest opposition will be the Guinea of Naby Keita and Ilaix Moriba. Malawi and Zimbabwe complete the area.
Morocco is another of the contenders for the title with a solid team, with World Cup experience after Russia ’18 and well profiled to enter Qatar ’22. Achraf Hakimi (PSG) and Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla) stand out on their payroll. Their opponents in the first round will be Thomas Partey’s Ghana – another in the Top 10 of the Qualifiers – Comoros and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s Gabon, one of the teams that can benefit from the flexible first phase system.
Mohamed Salah, probably the main face of CAN21, will command Egypt through group D that he shares with another great one on the continent: Nigeria. Guinea Bissau and Sudan complete the quartet.
Algeria, champion of the 2019 edition and brand new winner of the Arab Cup 2021, will integrate the E with all its figures at its disposal. Manchester City star Riyah Mahrez will be the flag of a serious team, which has accumulated 33 games without defeats with the first team and which aims to stomp in Cameroon. Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast (with Nicolas Pépé and Sebastien Haller) make up that area.
Finally, the F may be the one with the lowest quality of figures. However, it is made up of two finalists from the third round of the CAF Qualifiers, Tunisia and Mali, who share a zone with Mauritania and Gambia.
The coronavirus, the main threat of CAN21
The spread of the Omicron variant, prevalent in southern Africa, set off the alarms of the organizers, who fear that the coronavirus will condition or disfigure the normality of the competition.
To alleviate possible outbreaks in the campuses, the list of qualified players was extended from 23 to 28. However, the Cup has not yet started and there are already infections in some delegations. This Wednesday, January 5, Senegal announced three positive cases, in addition to the three in Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Malawi.
In addition, Tunisia reported two cases and Cape Verde that of its coach; while Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia and Mali had to suspend preparatory games. All those affected may join their respective delegations when their test is negative.
In another order, the African Football Confederation confirmed that they should reduce the capacity in the stadiums as a preventive measure. Only 60% of the capacity will be enabled for all meetings, except those in Cameroon where it will be expanded to 80%.
Through a statement, the CAF justified these decisions “after many consultations with the Cameroonian government, in view of the evolution of the health crisis and the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The organizers had already decided new sanitary regulations such as that the public must be vaccinated with the complete guideline and present a negative test to enter the stadiums.
.