Cameroon-football fans of Cameroon have dropped to the first AFCON in 50 | Football Stories

Yaounde, Cameroon – Ndongo Minsoko was 10 years old in 1972 when he was one of the 1,000 students selected to join the thousands of others at the opening ceremony. Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) at Ahmadou Ahidjo Court in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.

Fifty years later, he has to prove his country is once again playing the best football tournament in Africa for the second time.

“I feel happy and honored,” said Minsoko, a professor at the National Institute of Youth and Sport in Yaounde. “We need to give a better picture of our country.”

On Sunday, the Cameroon national team – known as “The Indomitable Lions” – will face Burkina Faso in the opening match of the AFCON at Yaounde’s Olembe Stadium.

Cameroon was originally scheduled to host a month-long tournament in 2019, but was replaced by Egypt due to delays in preparation and security concerns. It was then given a copy of 2021, which was restored by one year due to the coronavirus epidemic.

And over the past few weeks, doubts have arisen as to whether Cameroon could compete in the 24th edition for fear of the spread of COVID-19 and security concerns over the years that have been happening in the Anglophone regions of the country. The suspicion grew as a result of disagreements between members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee, as well as opposition from European clubs who threatened to ban their African players from competing due to the epidemic.

The European Club Association has written to CAF informing them that it has no intention of releasing African players at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.

The ECA has been urging the process to be suspended from the beginning of Nov.

CAF has promptly stepped in to block reports, saying AFCON will take place. pic.twitter.com/b1guw4gN7X

– Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) December 15, 2021

There were also concerns about Cameroon’s preparations for the planning and completion of the construction. But on December 22, following a “fruitful” meeting between CAF President Patrice Motsepe and Cameroon President Paul Biya, the football team said it was moving forward with “preparations for a successful” tournament.

But chaos is still in the offing for AFCON, who was left on the left by the country’s football association president, Samuel Eto’o, outraged. “If the Euros took place in the midst of the epidemic, complete stadiums in several European cities and there was no problem, why wouldn’t Afcon be played in Cameroon?” Eto’o told the French Canal last month.

Tijani Babangida, a former Nigerian international who was in Cameroon in October to visit the AFCON venue as part of an African football team invited by the Cameroon leadership, said he believed the country was in his hands.

“I’m impressed with what I saw,” the 48-year-old, who played for Nigeria between 1994 and 2004, told Al Jazeera. “Cameroon has done very well. When you see the stadiums, hotels, hospitals …

Cameroon has built or renovated more than 30 stadiums and training grounds in five of its 10 districts in preparation for the 24th edition to be held in Yaounde, Douala, Garoua, Bafoussam and Limbe.

Security concerns have been mounting in Limbe, a coastal town in Cameroon where English-speaking people live, where Anglophone separatists have been at loggerheads with government forces for five years. The government has tightened security by deploying more police in the seemingly tranquil town of Limbe in the southwestern region.

The tournament officials also made several trips to Limbe where one of the 2020 African Nations Championship qualifiers – the first African tournament – took place in January 2021, without incident.

‘Beautiful football jamboree’

Meanwhile, Olembe Stadium, a new 60,000-seat venue for the opening ceremony and Sunday’s game, has been the subject of controversy. , he stressed that there was no need to worry.

“I can assure you that we are ready to compete in this stadium on January 9,” the 57-year-old told Al Jazeera. “We’re just fixing flowers on the west side of the stadium.”

On Tuesday, the CAF said it had agreed with the local governing body that the Cameroon games should be played in front of 80 percent of the stadium due to the epidemic, while the other matches would be 60 percent. Observers were required to provide vaccine evidence, as well as PCR test results. CAF will re-establish its own laboratory testing laboratory.

In his New Year’s address, Biya called on the people of Cameroon to “come together as soon as possible to make AFCON 2021 the most beautiful football event ever to take place on our continent”.

Superstar Mohamed Salah will lead Egypt in the tournament [File: Andrew Medichini/AP Photo]

Liverpool players Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Sadio Mane (Senegal), as well as Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City (Algeria) are expected to represent their countries at AFCON. But their teams were allowed to keep the players until January 3, instead of December 27 according to FIFA rules, after the CAF approved a midfielder request. However, there has been a dispute over the release of Emmanuel Dennis (Nigeria) and Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) from Watford in England.

“You wonder, why didn’t we have a problem in the days of George Weah, Didier Drogba or Samuel Eto’o?” He was referring to former football professionals who came from African countries. “It also ensures that African players are well selected,” added Elume, pointing out that European clubs are finding it difficult to bring out their top talent during the season.

From the beginning. AFCON was taking place in January and February when European competition was at its peak. In 2017, the CAF selected the June-July season, with 16 to 24 teams growing. Egypt made the first revised edition in 2019, but Cameroon decided to hold the tournament in January due to heavy rains in June.

While Elume believes the way Europeans are heading to AFCON has been disrespectful, he also said CAF and FIFA have a lot to answer for.

“It was disgraceful for Africa that within a few weeks of AFCON, CAF was still considering suspending the event, after all the hardships that have plagued Cameroon.

In Yaounde football, however, the excitement has been growing since the first game of The Indomitable Lions.

“I can’t imagine my favorite TV show taking place in our country in a matter of days,” Gervais, 20, told Al Jazeera. “I was not born when we had our first race – and I feel very happy.”