Europe’s attitude towards Afcon rebuked

By The Standard and Newsday | Dec. 31, 2021 | 3 Min read

The European media has over the last few months been awash with negative stories about the tournament, often predicting that it would be cancelled because of a surge in COVID-19 cases on the continent.

By Kevin Mapasure

Ivory Coast striker Sebastian Haller and former Arsenal forward Ian Wright have hit out at European media’s negative attitude towards the Africa Cup of Nations which kicks off on January 9 in Cameroon running until February 6.

When the Omicron variant of COVID-19 emerged, the campaign against the tournament went into overdrive, but Confederation of African Football (Caf) stood firm and insisted that the tournament would go on.

The seeds of doubt on the tournament also saw European clubs try to stop players plying their trade in Europe from travelling for the tournament.

England’s Premier League could lose 37 players to Afcon, while the French, Italian, Holland, Germany, Spanish and Netherlands Leagues are all set to be hard hit.

But clubs will lose key players at a crucial part of the season and thus, a negative attitude towards the tournament which should have been played earlier this year.

A deal was struck with Fifa for the African football extravaganza to go on, with players allowed to play for their clubs till January 3.

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But even with the tournament certainly going ahead, the negative energy in the Western media has not stopped.

Zimbabwe, who were expected to arrive in Cameroon yesterday, at some point fretted over the availability of Marvelous Nakamba, Jordan Zemura and Brendon Galloway after Omicron surfaced.

Nakamba was, however, ruled out by injury while Zemura recovered from a knock and is expected to join the rest of the squad after the weekend matches.

Ajax striker, Haller got annoyed when he was asked whether he would honour a call-up by Ivory Coast for the tournament.

“This question shows the disrespect for Africa,” he told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

“Would this question ever get asked to a European player ahead of the EUROs? Of course I am going to the Africa Cup [of Nations].

“Of course, I will go to the Africa Cup to represent Ivory Coast. That is the highest honour.”

He added: “I hate having to choose between my country and my club,” he said.

Arsenal legend described the attitude towards Afcon by the European media as racist, in a short video he released this week.

“Is there ever a tournament more disrespected than the Africa Cup of Nations, he quizzed.” There is no greater honour than representing your country, the coverage (in Europe) is tinged with racism, completely tinged. We played our Euros across ten countries in the middle of a pandemic and there is no issue, but Cameroon a single country hosting a tournament is a problem? Loads of players in Europe right now are African, and if we love them at club level why can’t we love them at international. Why is this tournament constantly getting so much flack? The shame has gone on for too long and I just want to wish Cameroon all this best in hosting this tournament and I got to say to the players all the very best to you and the fans.”