CAF president confident Afcon will go ahead
Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe has said despite tales of doom and gloom, the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals will proceed in Cameroon next month.
He said this after inspecting one of the stadiums in Cameroon ahead of the African safari which will run from January 9 to February 6.
He was reacting to reports that CAF is considering shifting the event due to the Covid-19 Omicron virus and pressure from European clubs, who are reluctant to release their players.
Responding to a question from news.com on whether the tournament will proceed as planned, Motsepe said: “Well, I will be here from January 7, come January 9, we’ll kick off.
“But it is also important to believe in our people. We have to stop being the ones that lack confidence and are always expressing skeptical, negative views of our own people.
“All over the world there are competitions where there are challenges. We have to be optimistic. Sometimes we are overcritical of ourselves.
“If we are not going to be confident of our people, who will have confidence in our people?”
He said he is happy with the progress of the works and is confident of hosting the best Afcon finals.
“We are ready to show the world the best of African football and the best of African hospitality. So, it’s going to be a successful Afcon,” said Motsepe.
His visit comes a week after Europe’s top clubs threatened to refuse to release their African players for the event due to concerns over the Covid-19 health protocol.
Many of Africa’s leading players are based at clubs in Europe, including Liverpool’s Naby Keita, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Chelsea’s Eduardo Mendy and Hakim Ziyech, Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City and Achraf Hakimi and Idrissa Gana Gueye of Paris Saint-Germain.
Malawi is one of the 24 teams that will take part in the three-week event. Algeria’s Desert Foxes are the defending champions.
