By Lilian
Empty vessels make the loudest noise. So they say. There are several ways of humbling an indomitable lion that roars its way through the land intimidating dumbfounded bystanders and preying on anything from the Eagle next door to an antelope further out: make the carnivorous cat eat some humble pie! From a list of nine contenders, the Confederation of African Football has whittled down the respective bids to host the African Nations Cup in 2010, to a shortlist of four - Angola, Equatorial Guinea-Gabon (joint bid), Libya and Nigeria. Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Senegal were praised for their sustained support of the game, political will and commitment, and then shown the door. Try again next time!
Like many who take only a casual interest in the politics and business of sports, this news item would normally have passed me by. The announcement that Angola, Nigeria, Libya were being considered alongside a joint bid by Equatorial Guinea – Gabon to host the continent’s biggest sporting event five years from now, caught my attention for all the wrong reasons. Equatorial who? Yes! In the scale of footballing nations on the continent, both Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are easily overshadowed by the antics of that four-times-African-Nations-Champion -cum-1990- World-Cup-quarter-finalist-and-Olympic-Gold-Medallist- northern neighbour of theirs. At Gabon’s last showing at the tournament in 2000 they ended at the group stages, no thanks to South Africa.
Equatorial-Guinea? Never been there but they got a few sporting talents of their own. Remember ‘Eric “the eel” Moussambani’ from the Sydney Olympics? Hosting the tournament must be their one chance to play with the big shots from the continent such as The Eagles, The Elephants, The Pharaohs and the two Lions. Perhaps tired of seeing their mighty neighbour bask in the glory of being known on the continent and internationally as the best in Africa, the minnows thought a bid and perhaps a win to stage the Nation’s Cup will establish them as sporting nations. Simply put, those who can’t play, host! However, their joint bid is in itself a statement to their northerly neighbour.
Despite the roars of the Indomitable Lions across the football world since 1990, Cameroon does not have a stadium to show for (just ask South Africa’s Orlando Pirates who in 2004 who spent a miserable week in Douala waiting for a waterlogged pitch to clear up in order to for them to play Sable de Batie. Frustrated, they returned to Mzansi, got caught in more lucrative domestic tournaments, and never returned to play the match –despite CAF’s insistence. Their refusal earned them suspension from CAF’s Confederation Cup tournament).
I may be reading a lot into this. Clearly various strategic economic and national interests inform the joint submission by our southerly neighbours. Whatever it maybe, the bid goes calls for a bit of head scratching. Cameroon, like Cote D’Ivoire has hosted the tournament only once. Nonetheless, when Cameroon beat the Ivorians at the Houphet Biogny stadium during its ill-fated World Cup qualifier last year, I spent parts of the game oohing and aahing about how impressive the stadium looked (…if anything, that managed to keep my mind off the tension of the match itself). Talk of contrasts! While others have built first-rate sporting arenas, we have had to contend with the relics of those constructed in 1972, when we last hosted the tournament. This is the country that has given the world Milla and Eto. This the country that has given the English Premier League, Lauren, Djemba Djemba, Job, Song, Foe (rest in peace) and many more.
For it will seem ours is nation quite adept at participating and leaving organisation to others, regardless of how much resources and infrastructure development come with hosting such tournaments. I do not think Cameroon was caught napping on this one. If they needed any reminders, I am sure fellow compatriot and head of CAF Issa Hayatou, would have happily obliged. Quite simply we like to eat but we are not quite prepared to build a kitchen where we can cook and entertain others. And so, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon have served up a very humble fish roll for us. Smooth dough neatly rolled up with a healthy dose of spiced sardine and mackerel fillings.
Bon appetit!
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