The odds are stacked in favor of Cameroon’s hosting of African Nations Football Cup Competition (AFCON) 2021. Stakeholders are upbeat that the soccer fiesta in President Paul Biya’s country will be a success.
It is now certain that movers and shakers of African football will converge on Cameroon for close to one month. From January 9 to February 6, 2022, African teams will, patriotically, play with the spherical object, in what has become Africa’s King Sports Competition.
For a football nation as Cameroon-a five-time winner of the Africa Cup of Nations- the honour of hosting this prestigious jamboree is just legitimate. The first time that Cameroon successfully hosted AFCON was in 1972. Even though Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions failed to carry the day, the country joined the club of AFCON host countries.
Since then, the country has won five editions of the tournament on stadia across the continent with the latest coronation coming in 2017 in LibrevilleGabon. Indeed, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon roared triumphantly on foreign grounds in 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and in 2017. With such feats, the country has written its name in the golden books of the African football history -with legends like Albert Roger Miller, Samuel Eto’o Fils, Patrick Mboma, Thomas Nkono, and Joseph Antoine Bell.
In 1972 when Cameroon hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, only two stadia were fit for international competitions in the country: the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde and the Bepanda Reunification Stadium in Douala.
Today, Cameroon has world-class stadia. Back in 2016, the country of Samuel Eto’o Fils made the continent proud by hosting one of the most beautiful editions of the Africa Women’s Football Nations Cup. Though the Indomitable Lionesses did not win, the country enjoyed the excitement the tournament generated.
In January and February this year, Cameroon took the world by surprise when it hosted the 2020 African Nations football Championship, CHAN, a competition that valorizes home-based players on the continent. It was another resounding success that came to mitigate criticisms that soared following the withdrawal of the country’s rights to organize the 2019 AFCON.
The withdrawal of the hosting rights tarnished the country’s image, internationally. The Confederation of African Football, CAF, designated Egypt at the last minute to host the competition on grounds that Cameroon was not ready infrastructure-wise.
It was a bitter pill for Cameroon sport stakeholders to swallow. But things have since changed for the better. Cameroon can boast of several worldclass stadia today: the refurbished Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, the refurbished Bepanda Reunification Stadium in Douala, the newly constructed Japoma Stadium in Douala, the refurbished Roumde Adja Stadium in Garoua, the newly constructed Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam, the Limbe Omnisport Stadium, and Olembe Stadium(near completion) in Yaounde.
Despite Cameroonians’ heightened enthusiasm to witness the football festival, there exist many challenges. Top on the list is the coronavirus pandemic which is causing life, movement and policy changes in countries.
For example, when in January and February this year Cameroon hosted CHAN 2020 only limited numbers of fans were allowed into stadia and the burdensome anti-COVID 19 barrier measures to which actors were subjected left many wondering if their stakes were worth the salt. The current security challenges in the country are a cause for concern. Gone are those days when Cameroonians from all walks of life and in every nook and cranny would cheer the Indomitable Lions when they were playing.
The on-going Anglophone crisis is unfriendly to Cameroon‘s hosting the AFCON.
The current COVID-19 context suggests Cameroon will make less money. It is being mooted that a circa 25 % will be allowed into stadia during the competition. Less spectators suggests that Cameroon won’t make much money from hotels, souvenirs, handicrafts and other businesses. In this circumstance, Cameroon would have invested so much dwarfing the immediate gains.
Against all odds, the jamboree would be an opportunity for local businesses near stadia to boom.
Lack of enough good roads is another impediment .Some roads in towns such as Yaounde and Douala need urgent rehabilitation. The few good roads will likely cause traffic jam during the competition. Besides Yaounde and Douala, hospitals in other hosting towns need refurbishing.
There are varied challenges in hosting a tournament like the Africa Cup of Nations. But the opportunities outnumber the challenges.
As the AFCON gongs and drums rumble for the dance to begin, the setting is dressed in Cameroon’s legendary hospitality.
Twenty-four teams will be playing the coming AFCON. Only Cameroon automatically qualified. The 23 other teams battled for qualification battle. They are: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
