Sports / Soccer
Chiyangwa confront Caf over Afcon
12 Apr 2017 at 05:37hrs | Views
COSAFA president Philip Chiyangwa has protested to CAF head Ahmad Ahmad over the manner in which the hosting rights for the African Cup of Nations were handled by the continental body's previous leadership.
Chiyangwa is seeking a review.
Chiyangwa as reported by the Herald is questioning how former CAF president Issa Hayatou's regime awarded the hosting rights of four successive editions of the Nations Cup to countries from one region.
Hayatou also controversially stripped the right to host the CAF Under-17 tournament from Madagascar and tasked Gabon with staging the youth competition.
Below is part of the letter :
"The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations writes to congratulate you on your recent election as CAF president with a resounding victory in Addis Ababa. We are proud that COSAFA has produced a CAF president against all odds.
"President, we wish to bring to your immediate attention the following issues which arose during the COSAFA presidents meeting of 7th April, 2017 in Johannesburg:
"1. CAF decision to remove the African Cup of Nations U-17 tournament from Madagascar and allocating the same to Gabon.
"We wish to place on record our displeasure in the manner this matter was handled as it was clear that the decision to replace Madagascar was not due to football-related reasons. It is our considered view that in awarding the hosts for the same tournament consideration should have been given to COSAFA members to replace Madagascar as opposed to nominating Gabon who have already hosted the senior Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in January and February 2017.
"We wish to draw your attention to the above and note with grave concern that the AFCON 2015 was held in Equatorial Guinea, 2017 in Gabon, 2019 has been allocated to Cameroon, 2021 has been allocated to Cote d'Ivoire and 2023 to Guinea.
"It is inconceivable that five tournaments in a row can be hosted in one region of Africa.
"This clearly shows the insensitivity and provides the unnecessary imbalance in CAF member interests. It is on this basis of the foregoing that COSAFA demands that the process of awarding the hosting rights for 2019, 2021 and 2023 be subjected to a new and transparent evaluation process.
"We have received strong interest from COSAFA members willing to participate in the new bids. It is our expectation that an independent team of experts be constituted immediately to undertake this exercise so that there is an equitable and fair distribution of hosting rights for AFCON which remains the flagship for CAF.
"We submit for your urgent consideration our concerns,'' .
Chiyangwa is seeking a review.
Chiyangwa as reported by the Herald is questioning how former CAF president Issa Hayatou's regime awarded the hosting rights of four successive editions of the Nations Cup to countries from one region.
Hayatou also controversially stripped the right to host the CAF Under-17 tournament from Madagascar and tasked Gabon with staging the youth competition.
Below is part of the letter :
"The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations writes to congratulate you on your recent election as CAF president with a resounding victory in Addis Ababa. We are proud that COSAFA has produced a CAF president against all odds.
"President, we wish to bring to your immediate attention the following issues which arose during the COSAFA presidents meeting of 7th April, 2017 in Johannesburg:
"1. CAF decision to remove the African Cup of Nations U-17 tournament from Madagascar and allocating the same to Gabon.
"We wish to place on record our displeasure in the manner this matter was handled as it was clear that the decision to replace Madagascar was not due to football-related reasons. It is our considered view that in awarding the hosts for the same tournament consideration should have been given to COSAFA members to replace Madagascar as opposed to nominating Gabon who have already hosted the senior Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in January and February 2017.
"We wish to draw your attention to the above and note with grave concern that the AFCON 2015 was held in Equatorial Guinea, 2017 in Gabon, 2019 has been allocated to Cameroon, 2021 has been allocated to Cote d'Ivoire and 2023 to Guinea.
"It is inconceivable that five tournaments in a row can be hosted in one region of Africa.
"This clearly shows the insensitivity and provides the unnecessary imbalance in CAF member interests. It is on this basis of the foregoing that COSAFA demands that the process of awarding the hosting rights for 2019, 2021 and 2023 be subjected to a new and transparent evaluation process.
"We have received strong interest from COSAFA members willing to participate in the new bids. It is our expectation that an independent team of experts be constituted immediately to undertake this exercise so that there is an equitable and fair distribution of hosting rights for AFCON which remains the flagship for CAF.
"We submit for your urgent consideration our concerns,'' .
Source - Herald
