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Tag: CAF

  • CHAN 2018: ‘Morocco replaces Kenya as host CHAN 2018’, says CAF

    CHAN 2018: ‘Morocco replaces Kenya as host CHAN 2018’, says CAF

    The Confederation of African Football (Caf) announced on Saturday that Morocco has replaced Kenya as the hosts of CHAN 2018.

    CAF’s Emergency Committee chaired by president Mr Ahmad Ahmad, met on Saturday in Lagos, Nigeria, and unanimously decided to grant the organization of the fifth edition of Africa second tier’s football competition to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.

    The cities of Casablanca, Agadir, Marakech and Tangier have been selected to host the biannual tournament.

    Kenya was stripped of the hosting rights after failing to provide facilities vital for the competition, notably the stadia as promised in the beginning of the year and despite having numerous chances to make things right, there was no political will to make the competition a success and most of the process went dragged on as Goal.com reports.

    The candidacy of Morocco was preferred to that of Equatorial Guinea, another country that had submitted a valid application.

    The Ethiopian Football Federation which had also expressed its willingness to host the tournament, did not provide the government’s letter of guarantee, which is a mandatory document required as per CAF’s rules of application.

    Next year’s competition is set for January 12 to 4 February and will bring together 16 national teams composed exclusively of players playing in the national championships of their respective countries.

  • JUST IN: CAF strips Kenya of 2018 CHAN hosting rights over poor preparation

    The Confederation of African Football, CAF, on Saturday stripped Kenya of the right to host the 2018 African Nations Championship.

    The decision was announced at a media conference after a one-day meeting of the African football “cabinet” headed by president Ahmad Ahmad from Madagascar.

    Slow preparations for the January 12/February 4 tournament led to a decision widely anticipated for several weeks.

    A CAF inspection team departed Kenya in September to report that only one of the four venues was ready to stage the tournament restricted to home-based footballers.

    Some CAF officials in Accra also expressed concern about the political situation in Kenya, where recently annulled presidential elections are set to be rerun late October.

    It is the second time the regional economic powerhouse has lost the right to stage a CAF competition after being replaced by South Africa as 1996 Africa Cup of Nations hosts.

    Kenya would have been the second successive east African country to stage the CHAN after Rwanda in 2016.

    Other hosts since the 2009 inception of the Nations Championship were the Ivory Coast, Sudan and South Africa.

    There has been media speculation that Morocco or South Africa may replace Kenya.

    Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia have qualified for the 2018 finals.

    Kenya completed the line-up as the host nation — a position they now forfeit.

  • Gabon to host U-17 AFCON, as Tanzania replace Congo over MRI scan

    Gabon to host U-17 AFCON, as Tanzania replace Congo over MRI scan

    The Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has replaced Madagascar with Gabon as hosts of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

    CAF took the decision at its meeting on Friday after it withdrew the hosting rights from Madagascar following delays in preparations as demanded in the list of requirement.

    The tournament, which was originally scheduled for April will now take place from May 21 to June 4, 2017.

    Two countries had submitted bids to host the tournament, after the withdrawal, but after voting, Gabon polled eight votes against six for Sudan.

    Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets are not taking part in the event after failing to qualify.

    The then reigning world champions failed to progress to the final round of qualifiers after losing 2-3 to the Junior Menas of Niger Republic in August.

    Meanwhile, Tanzania will be replacing Congo on the list of qualifiers for the competition, following a CAF Executive Committee decision to disqualify Congo with Tanzania as its replacement.

    The Tanzania Football Association had filed a protest on the eligibility of Congolese player, Langa Bercy.

    After several correspondences regarding the player in question, it was decided to carry out a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test in Cairo, Egypt.

    However, the player never showed up, with a final ultimatum being issued for him to travel to Libreville to undergo the said test.

    Yet again, Bercy failed to turn up, leading to Congo being disqualified.

  • See full list of winners at the GLO CAF Awards 2016

    Algerian and Leicester City forward, Riyad Mahrez won the African Player of the Year Award at the 2016 GLO CAF Awards held in Abuja this evening.

    He defeated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sadio Mane who came second and third respectively.

    Nigerian and Manchester City striker, Kelechi Iheanacho clinched the Most Promising Talent award while Arsenal player, Alex Iwobi won the Young Player award.

    Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala also won the Women’s Player Award.

    Here’s a full list of winners;

    National Team of the Year – Uganda National Team

    Women’s National Team of the Year – Super Falcons of Nigeria

    African Club of the Year – Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)

    Most Promising Talent – Kelechi Iheanacho

    Youth Player of the Year – Alex Iwobi

    Coach of the Year – Pitso Mosimane (South Africa)

    Women’s Player of the Year – As is at Oshoala (Nigeria)

    Referee of the Year – Bakary Papa Gassama (Gambia)

    Legend Award – Emilienne Mbango (Cameroon) and Laurent Pokou (Cote d’Ivoire)

    African Based Player of the Year – Denis Onyango (Uganda)

    Football Leader of the Year – Manuel Lopes Nascimento

    Topmost Promoter of Football in Africa – President Muhammadu Buhari

    African Player of the Year – Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)

  • 2017 AFCON: CAF signs new partnership with Orange

    Ahead of the 2017 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), the regulatory body for football in Africa and Orange, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, have on Friday signed new sponsorship agreements, with Orange to partner 5 Major CAF’s competitions from 2017 – 2024.

    AFCON is the biggest football tournament across Africa and the Middle East, and Orange has said they are pleased to have signed the new eight-year contract to be the official sponsor and CAF partner.

    Gabon and Guinea-Bissau are joined by Burkina Faso and Cameroon in Group A for the 2017 tournament in Gabon, which begins on 14 January when the host nation take on Guinea-Bissau at the Stade de l’Amitié in Libreville.

    Group B comprises of Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Zimbabwe, while Coe d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco and Togo make up Group C. Ghana, Mali, Egypt and Uganda are the teams in Group D.

    Bruno Mettling, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Orange, and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, commented: “Football is the number one passion of our customers in Africa and the Middle East, and we’re delighted that our new partnership will enable us to bring them even closer to the events and things they love”.

    Starting with the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon in January 2017, Orange has extended its sponsorship with the CAF to include the 2019 tournament in Cameroon, the 2021 tournament in Ivory Coast and the 2023 tournament in Guinea.

    “These flagship competitions in African football generate an incredible spirit of unity across communities and people, and Orange is proud to reaffirm its commitment to supporting football, as we have done for nearly 20 years,” Bruno said.

    The 2017 edition of the AFCON, which will conclude with the final on 5 February, has top participating countries like Nigeria failing to qualify.