One More Chance Given To Cameroon To Host The Upcoming Cup Of Nations

Cameroon has been given the 2nd chance to host the Africa Cup of Nations, 2021. Last Friday, Confederation of African Football (CAF) stripped of Cameroon, from hosting the next year edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the reason for denial was confirmed by Ahmad Ahmad, the President of Caf.

According to Ahmad Ahmad, the president, Cameroon was restrained from hosting the 2019 AFCON’s next edition in order to avoid a repeat of the year 2010, in which some of the players were under attack by the separatists of Cabinda in Angola in addition to delays in the preparation of infrastructure.

In the year, 2010, the Togolese national team which was traveling on a bus to Angola was attacked by Gunmen and in this attack, 3 people were killed and many others were wounded. When the vehicle was entering into an oil-rich enclave of Cabinda, the attackers fired many shots at the vehicle. The rebels who were at that time fighting for the regions’ independence took the responsibility for the attack.

Ahmad Ahmad said that we can’t take that risk again and cannot keep the safety of our players on a stake and all the 20 members of the CAF committee decided unanimously to shift the tournament to some other place. However this decision to allow Cameroon to host the tournament came in the backdrop of Cote d’Ivoire’s inability to prepare the infrastructure for the AFCON to be held in 2021.

The government of Cameroon said that the infrastructural work will continue at the same speed in spite of the “surprising decision” by the football body of the African continent. Issa Tchiroma, the govt. spokesperson and the communication minister of Cameroon said: “We will make all possible efforts to host a remarkable and historical celebration for the upcoming African football tournament in 2019.”