Preparation Curtailed

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) appears to be being set up to have to succeed in spite of the plans of others to make it fail. The 24 AFCON-bound African nations should have had 15 days to acclimatise in Morocco’s delightful summer and prepare there for Morocco’s second Africa Cup of Nations. Instead, the AFCON was moved to December and January in the rainy season – so much so that fatal flash floods hit the coastal town of Safi last week.

It also coincided with FIFA’s failure to support African football despite its long-standing claims to the contrary. Former CAF President Ahmad Ahmad opened the door to Gianni Infantino’s undue influence over CAF. When Ahmad Ahmad stood up to Infantino procedures were initiated to remove him from office, which succeeded, even though the sentence was reduced.

Africa Controlled

Infantino got his way – control of CAF – the only confederation that FIFA exercises control over. Far from FIFA president being Africa’s ally he has imposed his plans – aften disastrous upon Africa. It coincided with African FAs receiving funds from FIFA, but that was not Infantino’s money, it was FIFA’s. However, Infantino won the loyalty of many of those benefited.

Earlier this year FIFA opened an office at the Mohammed VI Complex in Salé purportedly to aid the development of football in northern and western Africa, but what has it delivered?

Politics and Sport

Cameroonian football is chaotic and has been for several years – a former president of the Cameroonian federation (FECAFOOT), Iya Mohammed of the business giant, Sodecoton, was imprisoned for embezzlement, albeit not in his football role, but despite facing serious charges which resulted in long-term imprisonment, but still Iya conducted football business from his prison cell.

Iya was eventually ousted and a Normalisation Committee installed to supervise new elections. One of Africa’s greatest ever footballers, Samuel Eto’o Fils, eventually became President of FECAFOOT and set about imposing his vision for Cameroonian football, but there was a problem – a huge one that affected many African federations. Africa cannot fund its football governance as for example, Europe does.

While CAF benefits from the business acumen of its President, the billionaire South African, Dr Patrice Motsepe, the individual FAs tend not to have access to such financial credentials. So, they depend largely on the contributions of their governments, but this clashes with FIFA rules on political interventions in football. This creates clashes. Governments are responsible for the distribution of public funds.

If they are to spend public resources on football – it actually made sense to do so, as football was the most popular sport in Africa and had demonstrated its value to Africa. For example, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah had delivered a Football Revolution to demonstrate African achievement. It took public funds to achieve but it also delivered success on the pitch, partly through the efforts of an exceptional administrator, Dr Ohene Djan.

Others used football for their own purposes. The late dictator of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Mobutu, is a case in point. The ultimate brutal kleptocrat, Mobutu saw the potential of football. He invested in it and saw it bear fruit – Congo-Kinshasa lost 3-0 to the defending champions in November 1965 – it marked the beginning of the revamping of Congolese football. By 1968 they pulled off the great upset. Ghana lost its crown, although the wound was undoubtedly self-inflicted – Carlos Alberto Parreira undoubtedly became a great coach, winning the World Cup in 1994, but his performance in Africa fell far below that standard. He was appointed to lead South Africa’s 2010 World Cup campaign. It failed to deliver its full potential, but his first job in Africa disgraced both him and football.

The February 1966 coup, which the late Dr Kenneth Kaunda said Africa never recovered from, had consequences for football too. Ghanaian football was sabotaged, ironically by a football person. Joseph Ankrah became the leader of post-coup Ghana. He had once been a very talented striker for Acrra Hearts of Oak, but his government demoted the greatest Ghanaian coach ever, Charles Kumi Gyamfi to assist Parreira, who had only just qualified from his previous role as a fitness coach. One of the greatest coaches Ghana ever produced reduced to assisting a novice – only in Africa!