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

It is 2021 January and all eyes are focussed on the upcoming African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament beginning this Saturday the 16th January in Cameroon. The competition was initially set to be held in April 2020, was shifted to 16 January-7 February by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are total of 16 teams spread across four groups.

Group A: Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe

Group B: Libya, Niger, DR Congo, Congo

Group C: Morocco, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda

Group D: Zambia, Guinea, Namibia, Tanzania

A look into various prospective teams heading to the CHAN, Congo Brazzaville cry fouls over lack of training. The team complained that they have not trained for a period of nine months yet, they have to face the CHAN competition.

Source: Africa News

In Cameroon, one week ahead of the African Nations Soccer Championship, officials have deployed troops to protect players from across Africa as separatists vow to stop the games in restive English-speaking regions. The government is assuring football fans from across Africa that the games will be safe and that measures have also been taken to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The official song of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), by Cameroon singer Jane Mary Ihims, plays in markets and popular spots in Cameroon’s capital city, Yaoundé, ahead of the official kickoff of the tournament on January 16.

The local organizing committee of CHAN asked the song We Are All Champions to be played to keep football fans in the mood for the competition. 

Thirty-one-year-old Telesphore Ndoumbe says he supports Cameroon and is looking for the team’s supporter’s T-shirt to buy.

“Football is a unifying factor in Cameroon and the world at large, so I am expecting that during this period, hatred, anger will subside,” Ndoumbe said. “And I think that will be the beginning of a new live that we are going to experience.”

Ndoumbe said he would be watching the matches in stadiums in Yaoundé and the games in other towns on TV.

CHAN matches will be played in Yaoundé, the coastal city, Douala, and the English-speaking southwestern town of Limbe.

Thomas Ndive Mulungo, president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) in the English-speaking South West region, where Limbe is located, says people are anxiously waiting for the tournament to begin. 

“The people of the South West region are passionate about the game of football,” Mulungo said. “With the facilities, the infrastructures we have today in our region, we are proud. It is not only the football in the field of play, but it has economic multiplier effects to the community and the host towns.”

But separatists have warned on Social Media that countries taking part in the championship should not go to the South West region. The separatists, in messages on Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp, say the English-speaking regions are crisis-prone and the safety of the teams cannot be assured there.

Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of the English-speaking South West region, says measures have been taken to ensure the safety of soccer fans, officials and players from Africa and beyond. He spoke via a messaging app from Buea, capital of the South West region.

He says when the separatist crisis started in November 2016, the 20,000-capacity Limbe stadium hosted the Female African Football Cup of Nations. He says in 2017 and 2018, Cameroon’s national soccer team played against Gabon and Gambia in Limbe. He says the successful hosting of such international matches is indication that the security and safety of football fans from across Africa and beyond will be assured despite separatist threats.

Bilai added there are still some pockets of resistance from separatists fighting to create an English-speaking state in French-majority Cameroon. He said the military and police have been deployed to deal with separatists who fail to surrender.

Cameroon’s sports minister, Narcisse Mouele Kombi, says the central African country has also taken measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

He says the African Nations Championship will be one of the world’s first major sporting events since the advent of COVID-19. He says in order to respect COVID-19 prevention measures, Cameroon will strictly apply recommendations from the Confederation of African Football and admit into each stadium only 25% of capacity. He says the number of spectators will be increased to 50% of each stadium’s capacity starting with the quarter finals level. He says besides keeping a distance of at least 1.5 meters, every spectator will be required to wear a face mask.

Cameroon will play in Group A with Mali, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe, while Group B comprises Libya, DR Congo, Congo and Niger.  Group C has Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda and Togo, while Group D has Zambia, Guinea, Namibia and Tanzania.

The African Nations Championship exclusively features players from each nation’s respective national champions.

CHAN will serve as a warm-up for Cameroon ahead of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations the central African state will be hosting.

Source: VOA

Host Cameroon has issued COVID-19 guidelines for African Nations Championship (CHAN) that will kick off in the country in a week.

“In a bid to respect the COVID-19 protocol established by CAF and FIFA, CAF and Cameroon have agreed on the rate of occupation of stadiums during the competition as follows: 25 per cent for all group matches including the opening match and 50 per cent for all semi-finals and finals,” Cameroon’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi said in a statement released Saturday, adding that a special mechanism to mark the seats in all stadiums will be set up following the authorized occupation capacity.

Wearing of face masks will mandatory in stadiums and social distance will be strictly applied, he said.

“The non-respect of the measures shall expose defaulters to the risk of expulsion from stadium,” Kombi said.

The CHAN will run from January 16 to February 7.

The competition, in its sixth edition, is open to players in local leagues and Cameroon will host the finals for the first time ever.

Source: Xinhuanet

The razzmatazz and hype that comes with hosting the 2020 African Nations Football Championship (CHAN) is evident in Cameroon 30 days before kick-off.

However the preparations for the team, known as the Intermediate Lions, which will represent the hosts at the 16-team event are not going as smoothly.

The continental tournament for players plying their trade in their domestic championships was due to take place in March but was delayed due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Cameroon’s government has invested heavily financially and with material resources to build new infrastructure including 50,000-seat stadium in Douala for the tournament.

The country’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute is very happy with what his country has to offer for the 16-nation event.

“The infrastructure we have here for the CHAN is comparable to what exists anywhere in the world and Cameroonians have to be proud,” Dion Ngute said.

“For the next 100 years, Cameroonians won’t be thinking about constructing stadiums because top quality infrastructure have been erected across the country”

He also admitted that there was need for some “minor adjustments” to be made in order to ensure January’s continental showdown will be a landmark success.

Dion Ngute also hinted that there could be a return of fans to the stands for what he hopes will be an “African football feast”.

The optimism of Cameroon’s officials is shared by the Confederation of African Football (Caf), who during its most recent executive committee meeting agreed that “Cameroon is ready to host the event”.

Caf highlighted that inspection visits to the three host cities Yaounde, Douala and Limbe had shown Cameroon’s drive to organize the event.

After a seven-month hiatus triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, sports activities in Cameroon resumed in October with several domestic championships now in full gear.

Cameroon’s local organizing committee are hopeful the country’s ability to tackling the coronavirus health crisis can convince Caf to let fans in the stands for the CHAN.

“We are currently negotiating with Caf to see if we can have a significant number of fans in the stadium for the event” the tournament manager Michel Dissake Mbarga told Cameroon’s national radio CRTV.

“The figures speak for themselves. The scrupulous respect for the anti-Covid measures coupled with appropriate medical follow-up has brought Covid-19 under control in Cameroon.

“We are training volunteers on how to manage crowds during CHAN and to ensure that the distancing measures are respected in the various stadia.”

Caf has said that it is “working on a scenario with 25% (of stadium capacity) of fans” and that it is “in contact with the authorities to check if it will be possible.”

Trouble in the Lion’s den

While Cameroon’s plans to host the 2020 CHAN have been impressive that has not been the case for the team that is preparing to represent the country on the pitch.

The Intermediate Lions, as the home side are known, will be competing in the championship for the fourth time with their best finish the quarter-finals in 2011 and 2016.

In October, Cameroon’s CHAN coach Yves Clement Arroga was sacked and replaced by Martin Ndtoungou Mpile, following two goalless friendlies against South Sudan.

Ndtoungou, 62, who steered the side to the quarterfinals in 2016 in Rwanda has been tasked with putting together “a conquering side” for Chan.

But the absence of a competitive local championship coupled with an exodus of players has left Ndtoungou angry about his side’s preparation for the tournament.

“We’re supposed to take the best players to the CHAN but where are we supposed to get them from when there’s no championship?” Ndtoungou asked.

“I’m not yet serene over the team’s current situation. We had elaborated a plan hoping that the league will kick off but we’ve had to change everything and it’s just an ugly situation.

“No one is happy with this situation. We’re just trying to limit the damage because right now we’re not where we want to be.”

Ndtoungou’s damning assessment of his team’s build up has seen him resorting to calling up experienced players without clubs.

Earlier this month he named a 28-man squad that included the likes of 34-year-old Patrick Mevoungou, who last played in Saudi Arabia’s second-tier, alongside veteran striker Yannick N’Djeng and 16-year-old Franck Ondoa Edima who both compete for fifth-tier clubs.

Cameroon has been without a championship since March as a fallout of a ferocious power tussle between the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) and the country’s professional football league (LFPC).

Two months ago 19 top and second flight Cameroonian clubs called for the dissolution of the LFPC, citing the poor organization and management of the leagues.

The decision was endorsed by Fecafoot who stripped the organisation of its rights to organize the country’s domestic leagues.

The LFPC, headed by Pierre Semengue, retaliated by taking a case to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sports.

Semengue, aged 85 and Cameroon’s first military general has vowed to regain the league’s control over domestic football, accusing Fecafoot’s decision makers of wanting to “destabilize Cameroon, a football loving nation”.

However, Fecafoot’s President Seidou Mbombo Njoya has said he is exasperated with the constant legal battles rocking the country’s football fraternity that has cost “a whopping $2 million” since 2013.

Mediation from Cameroon’s Sports Minister has failed to resolve the issues and the two sides are now gearing up for a fight in the courts.

Culled from The BBC

KV Oostende has terminated Cameroon goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa’s contract with immediate effect after he organized a party during Belgium’s ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

According to the club website: “During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the Ostend police were called up because of noise nuisance in the apartment building of Fabrice Ondoa in the Koningsstraat.

“It turned out to be a lockdown party in which ten people violated all corona measures.

“When the police arrived, they were also verbally harassed by the revelers and 11 police reports were drawn up.”

Ondoa though was unhappy by the way the club handled the situation and denied holding a party.

“I just heard the news this (Tuesday) afternoon in an e-mail almost at the same time as the press,” he posted on social media.

“They are taking such a serious decision without even bothering to hear me. I just got a letter from their lawyer. It’s scandalous!”

“If they had bothered to invite me to explain, they would have understood that I have done nothing wrong. I have not organized anything at all and it sure wasn’t a lockdown party.”

The club’s executive president Gauthier Ganaye said 24-year-old Ondoa’s behaviour was unacceptable.

“As a football club, we cannot tolerate such selfish and irresponsible behaviour,” he said.

“We are relieved that we have not had any Covid contamination so far and we are doing everything we can to keep it that way.

“That is why we always remind our players of their duties and they also assume their responsibility.

“KVO as a club is above the individual and given the seriousness of these facts, we therefore feel compelled to initiate the dismissal procedure against Fabrice Ondoa.”

Ondoa had been with Oostende since 2018 and had been second-choice keeper this season behind Guillaume Hubert.

Source: BBC