Sports
AFCON 2013: 46 Days To Go
In 46 days’ time South Africa will host the Africa Cup of Nations, two years and seven months after they became the first African country to provide the stage for the World Cup.
South Africa received high praise for the success of the 2010 tournament and for its construction of several new world-class stadia, and was awarded the 2017 Nations Cup.
Then 14 months ago, the plan to host the 2013 edition of the tournament in Libya fell apart after civil war broke out in the country, leading to the death of Muammar Gaddafi – and South Africa stepped in.
Fifteen nations are soon to arrive for the 29th edition of the tournament, which will be played between 19 January and 10 February. Is South Africa ready?
“We are comfortable with plans that have been put into place, in terms of details and operational execution,” said Mvuzo Mbebe, chief executive officer of the local organising committee.
But he conceded “there’s been a lot of fair criticism that people have not seen enough branding around various cities” and promised that visibility will increase shortly.
The government has allocated 452 million rand (£32 million) to the tournament, of which 83 million rand (£5.8 million) has been assigned to the organising committee. The rest will go to the beautification of host cities and to national departments for logistical costs.
While the World Cup averaged 49,000 spectators per game, and 93 per cent of tickets were sold, filling stadia for Africa Cup of Nations matches has historically proved a much harder task.
Earlier this year, in Equatorial Guinea, only 200 fans were present for the quarter-final between eventual champions Zambia and Sudan in Bata. The 2013 organising committee made ticket sales its number one priority, and in phase one of their campaign they sold 20,000 – double their original target.
The demographic of South Africa’s population has helped, too. The Ethiopian Football Association has requested 15,000 tickets to accommodate their fans as they compete in a major tournament for the first time in 30 years.
Champions Zambia are expecting to sell 10,000 tickets to their followers.
South Africa president Jacob Zuma says hosting the tournament will be “a timely reflection on the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which we hosted successfully with the support of the African continent”.
In a nation where half the population live below the poverty line, tickets have been priced sensibly, with fans able to watch two games for 45 Rand ($5) – since 1978, group matches have been played as double headers in the same stadium.
For a tournament that wasn’t televised until the mid-1980s, the growth has been impressive.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) says, cumulatively, the 32 matches in the 2012 tournament were watched by 6.6 billion people, providing 87,072 hours of television exposure to sponsors.
It’s one thing being good party hosts, but can South Africa perform on the pitch in 2013?
Some see similarities to the 1996 tournament, which South Africa hosted and won only two years after the free elections that saw Nelson Mandela become president.
Hosting the World Cup and now the Nations Cup is seen by many as a watershed moment, the crest of a wave that Bafana Bafana can ride all the way to the final in Johannesburg.
To lift the trophy for a second time South Africa will have to overcome some of the traditional powerhouses of African football.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.