July 3, 2022
The brief from today:
AFCON gets rescheduled
The 2023 AFCON, originally scheduled for June and July 2023, has been pushed back. The rescheduling of the tournament is due to inclement weather expected during the summer months in host nation: Ivory Coast. The rainy season is known to cause heavy flooding in the country, and because of the unpredictable nature of that, CAF has opted to hold the tournament in January and February 2024. CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, made a statement at a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee saying, “January is not the ideal time because of the European clubs, but it is the only choice we have.” The timing of the tournament has been a longstanding issue for European club coaches, who have constantly bemoaned the absence of key players midseason, hence Motsepe’s statement. In 2017, CAF announced plans to shift the tournament to the summer, and indeed the 2019 AFCON in Egypt was played in June and July 2019. Due to forced rescheduling because of COVID, as well as the same rain issue in Cameroon, the 2021 edition was reverted back to January and February earlier this year. Once again, summer weather in West Africa will cause a similar adjustment for next year’s competition. It won’t be the first time a major tournament will be shifted due to weather, as this year’s World Cup in Qatar is going to be played in the winter due to the summer heat in the host nation.
CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, with the AFCON trophy
UEFA to make more effort against online abuse
UEFA announced that it would be taking a more active role with social media platforms regarding online abuse directed at players. The efforts with RESPECT campaign are meant to coincide with the women’s Euro 2022 competition. The statement from the governing body mentions their plan to “actively monitor, report, and remedy cases of online abuse.” Considering such abuse, especially racial, was taking place during the men’s Euros last summer—specifically towards black English players like Saka, Rashford, and Sancho—it does seem strange that UEFA’s “efforts” have taken this long; it also remains to be seen what effect will actually be realized from their more “active role”. They also plan to have a Real Scars campaign which aims to “highlight the devastating effects of online abuse directed at football players, coaches, and officials across social media platforms and educate them on how to best defend themselves against such abuse.” Better late than never, but yet again, the issue has been ongoing for some time now, and it does seem curious when such measures conveniently take shape only when a UEFA tournament is set to commence.
CAF announces Super League
CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, announced today that the African football governing body would be launching a Super League on August 10. He was tight lipped on the specifics such as: format, participants, schedule etc., but he made a brief statement saying, “We are going to have a total revision of all club fixtures for all the club competitions.” The Super League is not to meant to compromise the CAF Champions League, but with so few details released, question marks remain. FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, has been a proponent for such a move, touting the sponsorship opportunities such a competition would bring to African football. Curiously, Infantino’s comments were noticeably subdued when 12 European clubs attempted something similar last year with the much maligned European Super League. There is a CAF Congress scheduled to take place in Tanzania in August, and more clarity regarding the competition will be expected then.