Sports

ASEC Mimosas Still In Bloom On Solid Foundation

Published

16 years ago

February 14, 2011

Imagine supporting a team made up entirely of young local players who have known each other all their lives, who have grown up, trained and progressed together, made their professional debuts together and won trophies together.

A utopia to many, that dream is one that has been fulfilled by the fans of ASEC Mimosas, the Côte d’Ivoire club whose history has been made all the more glorious by their ability to nurture and get the best out of their home-reared talents.

ASEC stands for “Amicale Sportive des Employés de Commerce” (Sporting Association of Business Employees). As that name suggests, it was founded by a group of workers employed by companies in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan, all of them football fanatics.

Hailing from France, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Senegal and Lebanon, they pooled their passion for the game and founded a club, which came into being on 1 January 1948 in an Abidjan suburb by the name of Sol Beni (French for “blessed sun”). Adopting the mimosa flower as the club’s symbol, one that still features on its badge, they also chose yellow and black as the colours of the new outfit.

Stepping out in the Abidjan League, they would quickly strike up a rivalry with Africa Sports, the team that would become their eternal foes. Coached initially by co-founder Trenou Alfred Seho and then by George Koffi, it was under the Frenchman Guy Fabre, ASEC Mimosas’ first professional coach, that the club began to lay solid foundations. Appointed in 1954, Fabre preached a simple maxim that would later become the club motto: “Children have fun when they play football”.

Fabre’s charges proved him right when they went out and won the Abidjan championship in his first year at the helm. It was the first of many trophies that would come ASEC’s way. In 1955 he led his team to the final of the French West African Cup, where they lost out to Senegal’s US Goree. The Abidjan side appeared in the final again in 1956 and 1958, and though they came away empty-handed on both occasions, the experience was to stand them in good stead.

Four years after the second of those defeats they secured their maiden national trophy, the Côte d’Ivoire Cup, which was followed 12 months later by their first league title triumph.

Les Jaune et Noir (yellow and Balck) enjoyed a purple patch at the end of the decade, winning the cup four times in a row between 1967 and 1970, the last of those successes coinciding with a second league crown. Though coaches came and went, ASEC maintained their reputation as a flowing, inventive team, one spearheaded at the time by the striker, Laurent Pokou.

Four straight championship wins followed between 1972 and 1975, with the Abidjan side adding further cups in the first two of those seasons. Having satisfied their fans’ every wish on the domestic front, they then set their sights on conquering Africa.

Their initial forays in the African Cup of Champions Clubs met with little success. However, they did reach the semi-finals in 1971 and again in 1976, losing to Canon Yaounde of Cameroon and Hafia FC of Guinea respectively, a 5-0 second-leg defeat in the latter tie bringing an ignominious end to a golden era.

The return of Fabre in 1979 yielded a seventh domestic crown a year later, the end of a five-season drought. Nevertheless, it would be another decade before they reigned at home again.

The gloom was only lifted with the arrival of Roger Ouegnin as president, the catalyst for their emergence as the premier force in Ivorian football. The son of one of ASEC’s founding fathers, who had himself occupied the president’s seat in the late 1950s, Ouegnin brought the fading Mimosas back to life, pulling off his first masterstroke by appointing Frenchman Philippe Troussier as head coach. A championship hat-trick followed and even when Troussier left to be replaced for successive one-season spells by Eustache Mangle, Charles Albert Roessli and Mamadou Zare, the trophies kept coming.

ASEC’s supremacy was underlined by the fact that they went unbeaten in 108 games from December 1989 to June 1994. Club heroes Alain Gouamene, Abdoulaye Traore (also known as Ben Badi), Donald Sie and Basile Aka Kouame were so influential at the time that they also formed the backbone of the Côte d’Ivoire side that won the country’s one and only CAF African Cup of Nations title in 1992.

The highlight of that golden period would be reached in 1998, when after four semi-final failures and a 1995 final defeat to South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, ASEC finally tasted glory in the CAF Champions League (formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs), beating Dynamos of Zimbabwe in the final.

Perhaps Ouegnin’s greatest achievement, however, was to co-found the fabled Academie MimoSifcom in 1994 with former France international Jean-Marc Guillou. Unique in Africa, the academy has churned out a succession of talented players over the years.

Open to children from all social and ethnic backgrounds, it lays on free trials and provides its students with a training cycle that can run for as long as seven years, as well as a school education. The centre soon began to pay dividends, with its first graduates picking up the baton from the 1998 Champions League-winning side.

They showed their worth as early as February 1999, when an ASEC side featuring not one player over the age of 18 took on the mighty Esperance of Tunisia in the CAF Super Cup. Displaying a telepathic understanding, the untried teenagers swept to an emphatic 3-1 win, although with a teamsheet featuring the likes of Kolo Toure, Aruna Dindane, Boubacar Barry and Didier Zokora, a result like that should have come as no surprise.

ASEC have continued to reap the rewards of Ouegnin’s bold presidency and his lasting investment in the club’s future. Such has been Les Mimos’ domination in recent times that they have won an incredible 16 of the last 20 league titles. The man entrusted with the task of keeping the reigning Ivorian champions at the top of the pile is another Frenchman, Sebastien Desabre, who took over in October 2010.

ASEC’s Stadium

Built in 1964 to host the Abidjan Games, the Stade Geo Andre has since changed its name to the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny, in honour of Côte d’Ivoire’s first president, the father of the nation. Ask any local fans where ASEC play, however, and they will answer, “Le Felicia”, the nickname by which the ground is more commonly known.

With a capacity of 65,000, the stadium is also the venue for the national team’s home games, and staged matches at the 1984 African Cup of Nations. It was last refurbished in 2009, in preparation for the African Nations Championship.

Culled from FIFA.Com.

Sports

Recommended NFF Normalisation Committee Members Fail FIFA Test?

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The Normalisation Committee to spearhead major reform in Nigerian football has yet to be announced because several of the committee members recommended did not scale the FIFA integrity test.

The NFF announced in an official statement on October 22 that world football governing body FIFA have approved a Normalisation Committee to reorganise football in the country following the resignation of the NFF executive committee led by Ibrahim Gusau.

The statement pointed out that the committee members will be jointly appointed by FIFA and CAF.

Since then not much has been reported on this development.

A top source has now informed that the delay in the announcement of this committee has been held back because several of the

proposed members did not pass the integrity test conducted by FIFA.

“Some of those recommended for the committee did not pass the FIFA test, that is partly why the committee is not yet in place, ” a top source said.

“However, I wouldn’t want to give out the names of those who did not scale through.”

It was further gathered that the committee will have between seven and nine members with strong indications that there could be as many as two non-Nigerians on it.

Meanwhile, a former NFF general secretary as well as a one-time highly influential NFF executive committee member are among those lobbying to head the Normalisation Committee.

The committee will be expected to round up by May 31, 2027.

Sports

Olopade Insists 2026 NSF Will Hold

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, has insisted that the 23rd National Sports Festival will hold as scheduled, with key facilities in Enugu nearing completion ahead of the November 28 opening ceremony.

Olopade gave the assurance after inspecting the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and other venues earmarked for the event in the Coal City. He expressed satisfaction with the progress of work and said funding and equipment for the festival had been secured as preparations enter the final phase.

He disclosed that the swimming pool would be ready by November 18.

“In the coming days, the tartan track will be laid, and buses to move the athletes are ready,” he said.

Responding to suggestions that the festival could be postponed, Olopade criticised the speculation and said the authorities had already made their position known.

“When Lagos asked for postponement, we came out confidently to tell the public. Heaven did not fall,” he said.

“Suggesting that it will be postponed after announcement from Enugu State and NSC suggests that we are deceiving the nation. Not nice at all.”

The NSC boss also said the Enugu 2026 edition was projected to become the highest-sponsored National Sports Festival in history, with sponsorship expected to reach between ?12bn and ?15bn.

President Bola Tinubu is expected to declare the festival open on November 28, while about 12,000 athletes and officials are scheduled to arrive in Enugu from November 26.

Athletes from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory will compete in various disciplines.

Olopade commended Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, for his commitment to hosting the event, describing the state as a secure and welcoming destination for athletes and other stakeholders.

Sports

Senegal kicks Africa’s First Ever Olympics

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympics ever to be held on African soil, opened Saturday in the Senegalese capital marking an historic moment for the continent.

Signs proclaiming “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” are abundant across Dakar, which is hosting some 2,665 young competitors aged 14 to 17 from around the world.

The event marks the return of Russian athletes to the Olympics and also includes a refugee team. Overall, the athletes will compete across 25 sports and 153 medal events.

“We’ve got people from around the world that maybe had a very different idea about Africa and they’re going to leave, hopefully, with something really positive in mind”, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, said last week during a press conference in Dakar.

“I think that is really important for our continent”, she said.

Events ranging from athletics to beach wrestling, rugby sevens to breaking, will be held across eight venues in three locations.

Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly located some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital, will all host events.

An opening ceremony held on Saturday evening in Diamniadio kicked off the Games.

A total of 136 Senegalese athletes will participate in the Youth Olympics, with some 6,000 volunteers from Senegal helping put on the event.

The west African nation is renowned for its sports culture, including its football team, traditional wrestling and surf scene.

Football enthusiasts and young people often organise impromptu matches in the evenings or weekends on the beach or in village squares.

And as the day cools, hundreds of people flock to Dakar’s iconic coastal road, the Corniche, to run, do strength training or take part in group exercise.

While a sense of excitement is being stirred in the capital, the fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympics has struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal.

Many are more concerned with the high cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship.

“Once the youth Olympic Games in Senegal begin, Dakar will become the capital of African youth,” Senegal Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo had said in an interview last week.

“Africa hosting the (Youth) Olympic Games, it’s a symbol”, he said.

With the IOC effectively lifting the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) suspension in July, the Youth Games mark the first Olympic competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 in which Russian athletes are allowed to compete under their own flag and colours.

According to the ROC, 13 Russian athletes will participate and 10 coaches will accompany them to Senegal.

“The kids are excited, it’s good that our legitimate right to participate with the national anthem and Russian flag has been restored”, Anzor Gaunov, who coaches Anastasia Dobrovolskaya in judo, told Tidesports source in Moscow.

However, it is up to each sport’s international federation whether to authorise the Russian athletes’ participation.

The Dakar Youth Games will also welcome a refugee Olympic team, composed primarily of athletes based in Africa.

The IOC has called the Dakar Games an important milestone for the continent and an opportunity to showcase Senegal’s cultural richness and Africa’s growing role within the Olympics.

South Africa could potentially become the first African nation to host the Olympic Games, having already paved the way by hosting the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics.