September 5, 2022
The brief from today:
CHAN qualifiers conclude
The 2022 African Nations Championship (CHAN), which is scheduled to commence in Algeria in January 2023, concluded qualification yesterday. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) tournament, which is also officially recognized by FIFA as a full international competition, is solely meant for domestic based players from each participating nation. Despite that caveat, the perennial heavyweights typically secure qualification, but this edition will have a few surprises. The first shock result was 2018 runner-up Nigeria’s elimination to Ghana. Much like how the full strength Ghana national team eliminated Nigeria from World Cup qualification in March, the domestic based side would also be victorious after a 5-4 penalty shootout. The other heavyweight to miss out on qualification to the next CHAN tournament is South Africa. After losing the first leg qualifier to Angola 2-0, South Africa already had a task ahead of them going into the return fixture. Despite being at home, they would be handed an even more resounding 4-1 defeat, eventually being eliminated 6-1 on aggregate. On the other end of the spectrum, there were some underdog success stories that took place during the weekend in the same vein as Angola’s qualification. Sudan were already poised to make their first ever CHAN appearance after winning their first leg tie against Djibouti 4-1 last week, but they still needed to confirm the result in the return fixture. They didn’t disappoint their fans, as they would defeat Djibouti once again this time with a 3-2 scoreline. Along with Sudan, Madagascar will also be making their debut at CHAN next year after defeating Botswana over two legs. Following the last round of matches, the final list of qualified teams now includes the hosts Algeria alongside: Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, DR Congo, Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, Madagascar, and Angola. Morocco are the winners of the two most recent editions in 2018 and 2020, and will be vying for a third trophy, but with the next edition now expanded to 18 teams, competition will be more intense to decide who the victor is.
Defending champions Morocco will have to outdo 17 others to retain their title
Real Madrid’s plans for the Santiago Benabeu
Real Madrid have been renovating their world famous home stadium, Santiago Bernabeu, since June 2019. A recent delay with construction, following supply chain challenges due to the Russia/Ukraine war, will now see the expected completion date set for 2023. Madrid hopes to launch the new and improved venue by the beginning on the 2023/24 season, and the upgrades are meant to raise club revenue from increased usage of the site. After the addition of a retractable roof, as well as a removable pitch, the objective for club president, Florentino Perez, is to use the Bernabeu throughout the year for concerts as well basketball and NFL games. To realize this goal, Madrid have partnered with Legends, a company that is renowned for their expertise in dealing with events at major sports venues. While the functional aspect of the partnership is with Legends, the strategic component is actually with their parent company: Sixth Street. This is the same Sixth Street that earlier this summer purchased 25 percent of Barcelona’s TV rights over the next 25 years. This deal with Madrid is now also set to earn the investment fund a nice chunk of the capital side’s revenues, with the deal reportedly granting Sixth Street 30 percent of stadium profits over the next two decades. For that 30 percent, Sixth Street paid Madrid €360 million, while Barcelona reportedly received roughly €450 million for their deal. A lot was made of Barcelona’s auctioning off of the club’s long-term value for short-term gain, but it seems the competitive edge—at least financially—that many gave Madrid will now also be slightly compromised after their own deal. Whether Barca’s TV money, or Madrid’s stadium income, will be of higher value within the next 20 plus years will be the determining factor for which club has ultimately sacrificed more.
The current Santiago Bernabeu (left) and the new (right)