Football in Africa seems to have enjoyed a mini-revival under the watch of Ahmad Ahmad as the president of CAF, it will be recalled that the Malagasy’s first assignment as the CAF President was that he changed the period which The AFCON normally holds (January-February) Period to the summer of May-June.
Rightfully so, Ahmad Ahmad was applauded for his brilliant move as regards the period for AFCON tournaments and as a result, brought peace amongst some African Nations and some European clubs. The first and only AFCON tournament to be played right after the change in calendar recorded massive success as the set of players who didn’t participate, were probably the injured ones.
But one thing has always been the undoing of CAF, which is the way the football governing body in Africa bends its rule to suit some of the Federations affiliated with CAF. An example is how CAF politically isolated some African Nations in the AFCON competitions in the 1980s only to describe that as a defense of its ideas for the number of White Players an African Nation can have in its team.
Sincerely, it will be ridiculous to have CAF bend its rule of playing the tournament in the summer period just after one successful edition of AFCON. The tournament which was originally scheduled for June and July 2021 has now been shifted to the start of the year between January 6 and February 6 by Cameroon due to the weather conditions of the Francophone country during the May-June period of 2021.
For CAF, it will be a slap on its face, as it’s not a must for Cameroon to stage the 33rd edition of AFCON in 2021. A nation that will have a better weather condition can simply take the hosting right for 2021 instead so as to make sure that Africa maintains the status quo of having its elite football competition played in the summer.
SEE ALSO: Top Ten African Defenders As At 2016-2019
However, one salient question we should ask is; will CAF continue to have its continental competition played in the summer at every AFCON period right after the 2021 edition in Cameroon? Or, in the case where something like this happens in some other time to another Nation, will CAF be able to do the same for whichever country it will be?
Instead, the step CAF should take is to enforce every footballing Nation under it’s watch to regulate and upgrade the round leather game in their respective countries. As it is evident that no human being can cheat nature, but we can do something that will make the game to be enjoyed and in return bring about sanity as per decision making in our football.
CAF can take a clue from many continents like Americans, Europeans, and others. They’re static and consistent with most of these basic decisions and it’s not a case of the governing body for football on each continent trying to abide by the rules of its affiliates, the reverse should be the case except instances where casualties are being recorded.
If we want a better footballing environment for Africa, and we crave for building a good reputation in the face of the world, firmness, and consistency is required from every stakeholder and when the basic things are being put to place, something else can be worked on and success can be achieved football-wise on the African scene.
