After Morocco were stripped of the hosting rights, the Africa Cup of Nations is back in the tiny central African nation of Equatorial Guinea for the second time in three years.
Equatorial Guinea co-hosted with Gabon in 2012 and was chosen as a last-minute stand-in for this year’s edition when Morocco declined to stage it because of fears over the spread of Ebola.
The 16-team competition, which kicks off today, will be partially played in two remote border towns in Equatorial Guinea’s far east, where the standard of the stadiums and the facilities are — at best — uncertain
Photo: AFP
Equatorial Guinea were probably the Confederation of African Football’s only hope of holding the Cup on its planned dates. The organizers were left without a host when Morocco asked for a postponement late last year because of Ebola. No one else volunteered to take over.
Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, on the west coast of Africa, came to the rescue, but had to put plans in place in just two months.
Games will be held in four venues — the capital, Malabo, on an island off the mainland; the biggest city Bata; and Mongomo and Ebebiyin on the eastern border with Gabon.
Equatorial Guinea has stadiums in Malabo and Bata from its 2012 co-hosting, but the grounds in Mongomo and Ebebiyin are unknown in top-level soccer and needed to undergo rapid upgrades in time for kickoff.
There will also be new African champions after Nigeria failed to qualify to defend the title they won in 2013.
As Africa’s No. 1 team, Algeria are favorites to win, while the Ivory Coast lead a group of strong contenders from West Africa, but Equatorial Guinea’s hurried preparations make for an unpredictable tournament if the top stars in the top teams struggle to adapt to the conditions.
When Equatorial Guinea co-hosted in 2012, big underdogs Zambia surprised to claim the title.
Equatorial Guinea’s bonus for taking the tournament at short-notice was the reinstatement of their team, which had been disqualified from the competition last year for fielding an ineligible player who was from Cameroon. The country got back in after Morocco were thrown out.
Equatorial Guinea’s team has been in trouble before over eligibility and has a habit of picking players who were not born in the country. In 2012, barely any of the members of the squad were born in Equatorial Guinea and the then co-hosts were accused of bringing in better foreign players to boost their chances.
The venues in Mongomo — where the president comes from — and Ebebiyin will not be much more than very basic. There has not been enough time to build better venues in the towns.
So, tournament favorites Algeria and the top Europe-based players of Ghana and Senegal are set to play their group games at the 10,000-seat Estadio de Mongomo. The stadium in Ebebiyin has a reported capacity of only 5,000.
Still, smaller stadiums might give the hosts a better chance of filling them after some disappointing crowds — one famously as low as 200 people — attended the games in Equatorial Guinea in 2012.
While Equatorial Guinea has no reported cases of Ebola, Guinea, far away in west Africa, one of the three nations badly affected by the deadly virus, are the only one of the three at the tournament.
There will still likely be some concerns over the possible spread of the disease, with soccer fans traveling from west Africa.
Organizers have promised to be vigilant.
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