Africa Cup of Nations

[Fosterbloke]

matip is refusing to go

Oh yeah that's right (I posted that!)...

I hope Senegal are eliminated or better yet, disqualified before it starts.

[red g]

I presume with Ivory Coast they must be one of the favourites. A shock early exit would be lovely though.

[Norbs]

Hosts Gabon were handed a favourable draw for January’s Africa Cup of Nations, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s side to face Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the debutants Guinea-Bissau in Group A while the heavyweights Algeria and Senegal will face off in Group B.

The buildup to the tournament, which begins on 14 January, has been dominated by doubts over where it will be staged as the aftershocks of Gabonese presidential elections continue to be felt.

President Ali Bongo – who defeated the challenger Jean Ping to retain the post he has held since 2009 – was at the draw in Libreville on Wednesday night and he saw Les Panthères given a great chance of progressing past the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

Elsewhere, the holders and favourites Ivory Coast were drawn in Group C and will face Togo, Morocco and DR Congo, while Algeria and Senegal – ranked second and third in Africa by Fifa – will contest Group B with Zimbabwe and Tunisia.

Ghana’s hopes of winning a first title since 1982 will rest of coming through a group that contains the seven-time winners Egypt, Mali and Uganda, who are also in the Black Stars’ World Cup qualifying group and played them in their last finals appearance in 1978, when Ghana triumphed 2-0 in the final.

Ali Bongo

[Bender]

President Ali Bongo

A new challenger to Trump and Clinton

[Irishnev]

A new challenger to Trump and Clinton

Still not a patch on Tokyo Sexwhale

[Bender]

Still not a patch on Tokyo Sexwhale

Classic mofo is Sexwhale

[Vermilion]

Ali Bongo

No wonder he won the with J.Ping about.

[McDermotX]

[ame]https://www.twitter.com/craig_killie/status/820418585407275008[/ame]

[Liverpel]

Sorry for the lack of any updates. The WiFi is **** here in Gabon.

[CJ]

[Cormack74]

Why does this happen every 2 years rather than every 4?

[Red_Polo]

Absolute bollocks

Should take legal action

[Liverpel]

Why does this happen every 2 years rather than every 4?

Good question.

The reason is for football to catch up with development of it in Europe. Europe organizes her own every four years because football is much more developed there.

Africa cannot afford to follow that format noting very well that football as a sport is still growing and the technical aspect of it is yet to reach an enviable position. Football is much more than just kicking a ball.

Constantly hosting the competition, like every 2 years, makes the focus of football to always be on the mind of organizations responsible for improving its play. It gives every country the opportunity of always improving and not going to sleep until another 4 years.

It makes more money, through sponsorship, for CAF to continue to promote and develop the game. Making $10 million every 2 years is far better than making $10million every 4 years.

It increases the rate at which talents will be discovered and shipped overseas for further harnessing.
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[Cormack74]

Thanks mate.

Given a significant whack of the players are plying their trade outside Africa and anyone with a TV probably already sees a ton of (top) games I doubt very much it needs additional promotion and development. Well not development in that sense. Maybe development via giving kids the opportunity to play but I thought they got loads of money dolled out by the likes of Blatter for that type of thing. If it ever made it to the grass roots that is.

[Red_Polo]

Thanks mate.

Given a significant whack of the players are plying their trade outside Africa and anyone with a TV probably already sees a ton of (top) games I doubt very much it needs additional promotion and development. Well not development in that sense. Maybe development via giving kids the opportunity to play but I thought they got loads of money dolled out by the likes of Blatter for that type of thing. If it ever made it to the grass roots that is.

It made a bit more sense when there weren't many African teams making it to the WC. As things stand it's just a disincentive for top teams considering signing African players.