…May Reduce Minimum Venue Capacity Requirements

The Confederation of
African Football may
reduce the minimum capacity of 20,000 required for a stadium to host the Africa Cup of Nations.
It follows the use of smaller venues in the rearranged finals in Equatorial Guinea, which saw fewer empty seats.
“It gives us a sign that building huge venues in all areas is not necessarily the best thing,” General Secretary Hicham El Amrani told Tidesports source.
Sparsely-filled stadiums have often been a feature of the tournament.
In previous editions of the event, matches not involving the host nation have been seldom packed out – a combination of ticket prices, working hours, apathy and the challenges facing overseas fans to blame.
However, crowds flocked to watch matches at the hastily-arranged finals in Equatorial Guinea, which used four venues.
The major arenas were in the capital Malabo, with a capacity of 16,000, and Bata on the African mainland, whose 35,000-seater stadium hosted Sunday’s final, as Ivory Coast beat Ghana.
Meanwhile, Ebebiyin (5,000) and Mongomo (8,000) also attracted decent crowds as international football came to the eastern Equatoguinean cities for the first time.
“These stadiums were just the right size, considering the populations around,” said El Amrani.
“In terms of proportionality, the number of spectators compared to the capacity of the venues, I think this [tournament] was the most popular one.
“The main issue that sometimes make Nations Cup matches hard to fill is the capacity of away fans to travel, whether for financial and logistical reasons, visa issues and hotel availability.
“These are factors we are working on.”
The possible reduction in the required limit for stadiums would only apply to the smaller of the four venues, with the opening game and final still anticipated to be in sizeable arenas.