Three women referees created history Saturday at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) quarterfinals.

Ethiopian referee Lidya Tafesse and her assistants, Malawian Bernadettar Kwimbira and Nigerian Mimisen Iyorhe, became the first women to control a match at a senior CAF male tournament.

The breakthrough came two years after women referees handled matches at the African under-23 and under-17 Cup of Nations tournaments.

Tafesse, a former professional basketball player, tolerated no foul play as she yellow-carded three Tanzanians within 10 minutes during the second half.

African male footballers often dispute decisions against them, but most accepted without hesitation the rulings of Tafesse at the Stade Omnisport in the southwestern coastal resort.

“Lidya really enjoyed herself tonight and was a wonderful advertisement for female referees,” a CAF official, who requested anonymity as he is not an official spokesperson, told AFP.

CAF refereeing manager Eddy Maillet from the Seychelles was pleased as the trio created history eight days into the sixth edition of the Nations Championship.

“The CHAN is the second most senior national team competition in the continent after the Africa Cup of Nations,” he said.

“It is a wonderful platform for Lidya, Bernadettar and Mimisen to prove what they are capable of. They competed with male referees for places at this tournament and now they have made history,” he added.

Source: AFP

“Ithink [the] 2022 [Africa Cup of Nations] has the power of taking Cameroonian sport to another level,” says Njie Enow, sport editor at state-owned Cameroon Radio Television.

The central African country is desperate to host the continent despite the many challenges it has faced since being given the right to stage the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). They were stripped of that right when they were deemed unprepared, but given the 2021 edition instead.

And then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, pushing the men’s continental showpiece to 2022. The country’s readiness to host the Afcon is being tested in the African Nations Championship – the Afcon for home-based players – that started on 16 January 2021, and will go on until 7 February.

The country, initially slated to host the competition in 2019, was found to be unprepared by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This after the confederation decided to increase the number of participating teams from 16 to 24. Cameroon were awarded the rights to host in 2014 when only 16 teams were expected to take part. The country’s stadiums could handle that. Now, with 24 teams in the competition, there were doubts about their capacity to handle the expanded version. Cameroon was, however, adamant that they still could successfully host the competition.

Afcon heralds glory days

The country’s obsession with hosting the continental competition might be motivated by the benefits it derived from it in the past. It hopes for a replication of these advantages. Cameroon hosted the competition in 1972. And two stadiums were built then: the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium (named after Cameroon’s first president) and Douala Reunification Stadium. And, until 2016 when the country hosted the women’s edition of Afcon, these were the only facilities to meet international standards.

Now that the country has an opportunity to host another Afcon, the government has built footballing infrastructure in many regions. Five of the country’s 10 regions now have over 30 stadiums and training pitches to be used for the Afcon. “We want to be one of the best in Africa,” says tournament manager, Michel Dissake Mbarga.

Moreover, with improved facilities, the country’s football fraternity – league strength and competitiveness – improves. This results in local teams performing better in continental competitions.

“With the construction of these arenas, and the boom in football, came in greater glory for Cameroonian clubs – Canon of Yaoundé, Tonnerre of Yaoundé and Union of Douala. Canon used to set up at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, while Union set up at the Reunification Stadium,” Enow said.

Cameroonian clubs dominated continental football after the 1972 Afcon hosting. Canon lifted the CAF Champions League in 1978 and 1980 while Union won it in 1979. Tonnere won the 1975 CAF Cup Winners’ Cup.

‘A vehicle to heal a wounded nation’

But this Afcon could do more than just improve the country’s infrastructure, it could also be a vehicle to heal a divided and wounded nation.

On a cold grey night on 5 February 2017, in Cameroon’s Southwest region’s capital, Buea, there were countless groups of Cameroonians watching their national team play in the Afcon final. This despite the Anglophone region being involved in calls and actions for secession.

Buea, the centre of the Anglophone community, had just seen its university students beaten up and some raped because they called for school reforms. This later escalated to a call for separation from the country’s Francophone majority, who make up 80% of Cameroon.

However, Vincent Aboubakar’s 88th minute goal, which gave Cameroon a 2-1 win over Egypt in the final, changed the atmosphere from anger to joy and fanfare. There even was the clacking of pots and pans in celebration throughout the national territory, even in English-speaking regions.

That victory served as a good propaganda tool for President Paul Biya. Cameroon’s Anglophone region had recently been protesting and calling for their own state, saying they are being marginalised by the country’s Francophone majority.

Cameroon, then, won the Afcon at just the right time. President Biya ordered the trophy to be paraded in the capital towns of Cameroon. There was a similar national tour of the Indomitable Lions’ Afcon trophy in 1984 when he faced an attempted coup.

“Sports and politics are intertwined. Periods of sports domination always have helped in consolidating political power,” said Enow.

The Afcon as a pacifier

Cameroon has spent large sums of money to host the tournament. When Dissake was asked why the country did so despite its many problems, he said: “What one should know is that… the head of state decided to offer to the Cameroonian youth more than 30 high-level sports infrastructure. It is for the exploitation of the Cameroonian youth. Nobody will take it away after the Afcon.”

His thoughts are affirmed by the President of the Cameroon Football Federation. “It’s an opportunity to thank the government of Cameroon, especially the head of state for all the efforts that have been put. People don’t imagine what effort it is to build stadiums, to ameliorate infrastructure: roads, hospitals…” Seidou Mbombo Njoya told the press after CAF postponed the 2021 Afcon to 2022.

Using sport, especially major tournaments, to pacify an angry nation is nothing new. Many authoritarian leaders across the globe have done this. The overall mission for Biya is to win back the hearts of Cameroon’s youthful majority. Cameroonians aged 37 and below have known just one president. And under his leadership, the country has been battered by ethnic divisions and conflicts.

Suppressing a coup in 1984, two years after his rise to power, Biya bent the political system to his will. He won the 1992 elections amid controversy, and got re-elected in the 1997 poll effortlessly when the opposition boycotted. He won another term in 2004. He is now in his seventh term as president.

The country’s economy, which has been ailing since the 1990s, is now made worse by a separatist war being fought in the west. This is a nightmare for the president because his failures are laid bare. His leadership, then, is desperate to give Cameroonians the Afcon competition in hopes that they will be pacified and the country “healed”.

 Source: New Frame

The sixth edition of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) kicks off this weekend in Cameroon. 16 countries are competing, fielding only players who ply their trade in their respective nations’ local leagues. The first two from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

The final will be held on February 16 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde.

The race to dethrone defending champions Morocco is open. The Atlas Lions, beat Nigeria 4-0 infront of a home crowd in 2018 to lift the trophy.

Even if it is difficult to assess the state of form of the teams involved, the Moroccans are among the big favorites of this edition played without Egypt, Senegal or Ivory Coast.

“It is one of the most experienced teams”, said Wahany Sambou, an Africanews correspondent in Senegal.

“A large part of the players of the Moroccan team (7 players in total) won the Confederation Cup with RS Berkane”, Said Sambou.

DRC and Mali eye glory

Among the contenders too is the Democratic Republic of Congo, the nation with the most titles in the competition with two successes in 2009 and 2016.

“There is serenity in the group, the spirit of work, joy and good humor. We’re doing well, we work well,” said team coach Florent Ibenge, who took over the reins of the senior team last December.

This year, we will also have to count on 2016 finalists Mali, and who are moving forward with great ambitions.

“we’re going to Cameroon to look for the trophy. If we set ourselves such objectives, we give ourselves the means to do so. I think we’re capable of doing it,” said coach Nouhoum Diané.

Cameroon are just as hungry

The Malian Eagles will have to leave group A which is particularly strong with the presence of Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and hosts Cameroon, who are far from ticking all the boxes according to Sambou.

“This team does not inspire me with confidence simply because it was very disappointing during the preparation tournament for CHAN. Even the supporters are pessimistic”, Sambou said.

Except that in these times of the coronavirus pandemic, it is difficult to draw lessons from the preparation period.

The competition will take place in two brand new stadiums (Limbe Stadium and the little jewel of 50,000-seat Japoma Stadium).

The Reunification Stadium in Douala and Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde will also host games.

The finals will be played in the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium on February 7th.

Fixtures for the opening day

Group A

Cameroon-Zimbabwe (Sat. 17h00)

Mali-Burkina Faso (Sat. 8:00 pm)

Group B

Libya-Niger (Sun. 17:00)

DR Congo – Congo (Sun (20h00)

Group C

Morocco-Togo (Mon. 17h00)

Rwanda-Uganda (Mon. 8:00 pm)

Group D

Zambia-Tanzania (Tue. 5:00 PM)

Guinea-Namibia (Tue. 8:00 pm)

Source: Africa News