It’s time again for players to show themselves while entertaining the world.
As the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) kicks off yesterday in Cameroon with 24 countries featuring at the biggest football show piece on the continent, the tournament highlights how football remains a powerful and unifying force.
Held biannually since inception in 1957, AfCON has been used to celebrate the continent while offering a purely African content to what is universally recognised as the beautiful game.
We therefore hope that this tournament, like the previous ones, will offer quality entertainment and that at the end, the best side will win.
However, this tournament is coming amid disruptions by COVID-19 which has led to loss of jobs across all sectors and forced many nations into lockdown mode since the spike in the pandemic in December 2019.
Authorities on the continent have also shown resilience by insisting on going ahead with the event in the face of postponement, uncertainties and worries about cancellation arising from backlash from European clubs hesitant to release players out of concern for injuries and COVID-19.
It is remarkable that the tournament is holding at last.
Originally, it was due to be staged in 2019 but was moved to Egypt because Cameroon was deemed not ready with the necessary infrastructure.
Then, it was scheduled to start in June 2021 but subsequently brought forward to January to avoid Cameroon’s rainy season.
The tournament was then delayed to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The special place of AfCON in the international football calendar is quite unique.
The tournament predates the Euro-Championship and is reputed for yielding the stage to some of the best players that ply their trade all over the world to exhibit their talent.
It is expected that today’s opening fixture between the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Stallions of Burkina Faso at the Olembe Stadium, Yaounde will produce the sparks and give football fans across the world an insight of what to expect in the next four weeks.
Nigeria is one of the six nations tipped to win the tournament.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria also finished second in 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2000 while they have finished third on eight different times.
