Kilian Nikièma had imagined the preparation for his first African Cup differently. At the end of December, the eighteen-year-old goalkeeper of ADO Den Haag traveled with the national selection of Burkina Faso for a final training camp to Abu Dhabi, where more African teams had set up camp. After a week of hard training and a few practice matches, the Burkinese flew on Monday to Cameroon, host country of the tournament that starts this Sunday at 5 p.m.
Nikièma was left behind, as were two teammates. The sore throat he felt since the long flight to Abu Dhabi initially seemed harmless. Until after a few days he tested positive for corona and did not leave his hotel room. As the squad left to prepare for the opening game against Cameroon, Nikièma watched Netflix, read a book on stoicism on his e-reader – The obstacle is the way – and kept in shape as best he could with a jump rope.
“Of course I’m disappointed that I’m stuck here, but I remain optimistic,” Nikièma said in a telephone call from Abu Dhabi last Wednesday. A corona test was awaited on Thursday, with a negative result he could fly to Cameroon on Friday. Just in time to be present at the opening game. Or else? “Then I’ll come later. Even if there is only one game left, I will go to the Africa Cup.” A day later he got good news. „Test went well! Departure for Cameroon in 10 minutes”, the young keeper appended.
Nikièma – tall, with a beard on the chin – is one of the many African football players and coaches who tested positive for corona in the run-up to the tournament. Favorite Senegal, losing finalist during the previous edition, was forced to travel to Cameroon this week because of nine positive tests in the team (three players and six staff members). The selections from Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Cape Verde, among others, are also heavily affected by the virus. On Thursday it was also announced that one of the stars of the tournament, the Gabonese Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has been infected.
The advance of corona variant Omikron brought European clubs to it in December a sharp letter to write to FIFA. They demanded clarity about health measures during the Africa Cup and guarantees about a timely return of their African players. They would otherwise not be allowed to travel to Cameroon. Perhaps it was even advisable to postpone the tournament, it was suggested.
The African Football Federation (CAF) does not want to know anything about it. This edition of the Africa Cup is already a rematch, after corona made playing football impossible last winter. In addition, players run the same risk of becoming infected at their clubs. How many Premier League games have been postponed in recent weeks due to virus outbreaks? How many European teams have had to break off their foreign training camps early?
tug-of-war for players
The attitude of European clubs causes considerable irritation among African football associations, players and commentators. They think – not for the first time – that the Africa Cup is not taken seriously enough in Europe. Constant tug-of-war over players who may or may not be injured, like last week Watford attacker Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal), contributes to that sentiment. Like a comment from Liverpool coach , Jürgen Klopp who recently called the Africa Cup “a small tournament”.
“Has there ever been a tournament treated with less respect than the Africa Cup?” asked BBC football analyst and former England striker Ian Wright wonder. Also Sébastien Haller, striker from Ivory Coast, reacted stimulated back then The Telegraph asked him whether he would rather stay in the Netherlands to play the league matches against PSV and FC Utrecht with Ajax. „This statement shows it disrespect for Africa,” Haller said. “Would this ever have been presented to a European player towards a European Championship?”
Kilian Nikièma understands the annoyance. Many Europeans have no idea how important the Africa Cup is for Africans – both on the continent and beyond. Also for Nikièma, born and raised in Voorschoten. Burkina Faso is his father’s country. Ouindinda Nikièma met Kilian’s mother at the university of Ouagadougou and came to the Netherlands with her in the mid-nineties. This week he reminisced about the football of his youth at the dinner table in Voorschoten. Every two years, the villagers gathered around a radio to listen to Africa Cup match reports, even though Burkina Faso never made it through the qualification. Then they cheered for Ghana.
At the time, African football was much more than just the Africa Cup, says Ouindinda Nikièma. Throughout the year, he went to see his favorite club (Etoile Filante de Ouagadougou) as often as possible. Between the crowd, if he had money, otherwise he and his friends would climb the trees outside the stadium to watch the game. The big games were always sold out.
But local club football in Burkina Faso is marginalized, as it is in most African countries. Stadiums are poorly filled. Everyone looks at the European competitions, especially the Premier League. There, where the money is, the vast majority of today’s African pros play, otherwise in competitions in the Gulf region, China or Southeast Asia. Except during the Africa Cup, which has been held every other year since 1957. It is the only chance for Africans to see their best footballers on their own continent. World stars such as Mo Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Sadio Mané (Liverpool, Senegal) and Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria), alongside Eredivisie players such as Sébastien Haller (Ajax, Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangaré (PSV, Ivory Coast) and Zakaria Aboukhlal (AZ , Morocco).
Audience with the Prime Minister
Kilian Nikièma noticed in the week before Christmas how much the Africa Cup is alive among the more than 20 million inhabitants of Burkina Faso. The national team met in Ouagadougou. According to the young keeper, what he found in the capital was comparable to the atmosphere in the Netherlands during a World Cup. “I only just joined, but some people already recognized me on the street. People wished me luck, said that the whole country was behind us and that everyone had faith in the team.” Before leaving for Abu Dhabi, the selection had an audience with the Prime Minister.
Does that increase the pressure? A little bit, says Nikièma from his hotel room in Abu Dhabi. But the pressure is different anyway, because every player is aware of the problems in the country. Burkina Faso is poor and rebel groups are active in the north and east. Many residents of those regions reside in refugee camps. “We talk about that among ourselves,” says Nikièma. “Before the game, we say to each other that we do it for all those people who are having a hard time. We know: if we win, the whole country will be happy for a while.”
More participating countries are experiencing domestic unrest, poverty and violence. Host country Cameroon has been mired in a bloody conflict for several years between Anglophone separatists in the southwest and northwest of the country and the French-speaking government of 88-year-old President Paul Biya. The security situation surrounding the tournament is therefore tense. Recently, a telling video went viral on YouTube of tournament mascot Mola, who is visiting the northwestern town of Bamenda, flanked by heavily armed soldiers.
Human rights activists accuse President Biya – in power since 1982 – of using the Africa Cup to divert attention from his role in the conflict and the marginalization of Anglophone populations in his country. That, in combination with the threat of attacks, critics say should be a reason to postpone or move the tournament – not the pandemic and the interests of European clubs. It is an echo of criticism surrounding previous editions of the Africa Cup in the autocratically led oil states Equatorial Guinea (2015) and Gabon (2017).
Ouindinda Nikièma understands the objections, as he also takes a critical look at the hundreds of millions of dollars that poor host countries spend on new stadiums that usually remain empty after the tournament. Still, he is happy that the Africa Cup will continue this winter. For Kilian, but also for the countless Africans who are looking forward to the tournament. Because once there is football, everyone forgets politics for a while, says the Burkinese.
He will travel to Cameroon this Saturday to cheer on his country during the opening game. The chance that his son will be on goal is small – he is one of the three reserve keepers. Kilian Nikiema does not mind. “Even if I’m the fourth goalkeeper in the stands, I could live with that. It’s about the team for me, I really hope we go far.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC Handelsblad on 8 January 2022
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of January 8, 2022
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