The Confederation of African Football Federation, the governing body of football in Africa, has come under the spotlight owing to the uncertainty surrounding the 2015 edition of the African Cup of Nations which was billed to hold in Morocco. Owing to fears over the continued threat that the Ebola Virus Disease poses, hosts Morocco have showed reluctance to continue as hosts despite investing immense sums in the build-up to the event. Despite CAF’s insistence that the event will go ahead as planned between January 17 to February 8, Morocco are yet to show any signs that it will welcome the rest of Africa as the biggest football event on the continent gets underway next year.
Morocco’s main reason for seeking to forfeit its place as hosts is pieced around fears that bringing in fans from all across Africa will pose health hazards as the country could be at risk of recording cases of the Ebola virus.
On the surface, Morocco’s reasons hold water but probing deeper, there appear to be a number of cracks in Morocco’s position. Most curiously, Morocco have sought to withdraw from hosting the African Cup of Nations in January next year but have already confirmed that it will be going ahead with its plans to host the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in December.
The hypocrisy of the twin decisions is perhaps crystallized by the fact that one of the clubs set to appear at the Club World Cup in December is Real Madrid, champions of Europe, from Spain- a country with confirmed cases and deaths of Ebola.
CAF amplified this sentiment on a statement on its official website where it put out a six-point bulletin on why it will not consider postponement or outright cancellation of the African Cup of Nations. Its fourth reason hinted at a possible confusion as to why Morocco found it convenient to host the Club World Cup only a month before the commencement of the African Cup of Nations.
“Morocco, a country where no cases of Ebola have been identified, welcomes in the coming weeks and a few days before the Orange AFCON 2015, the FIFA Club World Cup where there will be participants from a country where a case of the Ebola virus has been identified (Spain).
On the other hand, the number of foreign fans expected in the stadiums for the FIFA Club World 2014 is much higher than the ones expected for the Orange AFCON 2015. Indeed, almost all of the fans attending the Orange AFCON are residents in Morocco, and considering the average purchasing power in most African countries, it is unrealistic to expect more than 1,000 supporters from the rest of continent to attend the Orange AFCON 2015, except for those who benefit from a geographic proximity within the Maghreb region.
Therefore, CAF considers that the current health system in place in Morocco, and whose effectiveness has been proven, is more than able to cope with the very limited flow of people for the Orange AFCON 2015.”
CAF makes a strong point in the above statement as the Club World Cup will, as a matter of fact, attract more foreign fans to Morocco especially Spaniards who, to all intents and purposes, ought to be monitored as closely as possible given the failings of the health system in Spain to contain the spread of the virus. Perhaps, Spain’s situation should be treated with increased scrutiny as while in the affected parts of Africa- mainly Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea- the virus has spread due mainly to ignorant inter-human contact, Spain’s outbreak has occurred primarily because of a total failure in a medical facility that was supposed to be able to deal with such dangerous biological organisms such as the Ebola virus.
Another key point which CAF makes is that a majority of fans at the African Cup of Nations will be Moroccans or citizens of neighbouring nations in the Maghreb region as very few Africans will make the expensive journey unless sponsored by the corporate bodies and national associations. This means that Morocco can quite adequately deal with all entrants from parts of Africa where red flags have been raised over the Ebola virus. Again, this sentiment was echoed by CAF on its statement as it alluded to the fact that of all the affected nations, only Guinea stands a chance of qualifying. This further shows that perhaps Morocco is amplifying its fears a little too much. CAF’s statement also disarmingly compliments Morocco for hosting Guinea’s home games in Casablanca and was particularly keen to emphasize that Morocco’s “ strict health protocol” for the Guineans “ has so far showed no flaws.”
The bigger question amid all of this is quite obvious: why would Morocco rather host the Club World Cup than the African Cup of Nations?
The answers could lie in Morocco having an ‘international complex’ which leads the organizers to believe that hosting a relatively global competition like the Club World Cup is a more valuable proposition than hosting the African Cup of Nations. The influx of more foreign fans from all over the world also ensures that the Club World Cup will have a more measurable impact on Morocco’s tourism and hospitality industry. Finally, and perhaps most crucially, FIFA remains a superior body to CAF and will no doubt have more persuasive powers in ensuring that Morocco go ahead with hosting the Club World Cup as planned.
CAF have announced that Morocco has until November 8th to confirm its position as regards hosting the African Cup of Nations but whatever decision Morocco reaches; its initial selective sense of danger hints at a more than healthy measure of hypocrisy and this could see the nation lose valuable political capital and goodwill in football circles on the continent.
