Vuvuzela South Africa

The “Unity kit” will carry PUMA’s Yellow ‘life’ Label

German sportswear giant Puma and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have unveiled a “unified African kit” – that the continent’s teams can use if their national colours clash during the African Nations Cup and World Cup finals.

The “Play for Life” partnership is part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity and intends to raise awareness about habitat and species conservation among football fans.

Africa Unity Kit

The 12 Puma-sponsored African teams are adopting a unique continental football strip known as the Africa Unity Kit, as their official third kit. They are Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Mozambique, Togo, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, and Namibia.

These 12 teams will also wear the Fifa-approved strip during friendly games in the build-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, which kicks off on 11 June in Johannesburg.

Africa – Home to Nine out of 35 Biodiversity Hotspots

Africa is home to nine of the planet’s 35 Biodiversity hotspots, the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), species have been disappearing at up to 1,000 times the natural rate, and this is predicted to rise dramatically. Based on current trends, an estimated 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species face extinction.

Third Kit for 2010 World Cup and CAF

Puma chief executive Jochen Zeitz said the use of the kits had been approved by FIFA as a third kit which can be worn when there is a clash of uniforms between competing teams during the Nations Cup and the World Cup.
“In 2010, Africa will be at the centre of the footballing world. Puma is creating a unique kit embracing the diversity of African Nations teams while valuing the unity of players and supporters towards a common goal,” said Zeitz at a news conference.

“Biodiversity and therefore valuing and protecting all life on our planet is a huge issue, not only in Africa, but around the world. We are proud to partner with UNEP to raise both awareness and funds through the sale of Unity products,” he added.

The Africa Unity Kit will be used at the 2010 African Cup of Nations football tournament in Angola between 10 and 31 January. All profits from worldwide sales of the replica kit will support biodiversity programmes in Africa.

Designer shoelaces (lacelets)

Unity T-Shirts and Lacelets

Besides the kit, other items such as Unity t-shirts and lacelets – collectible shoe laces featuring patterns from leading American artist Kehinde Wiley – are available.

The kit comes with replica jerseys in brown pantone colour, which were created by mixing soil samples from Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Cameroon and matching shorts.

Source and images: pumavision.com

Popularity: 21% [?]

Five months ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Togo team bus comes under machine gun fire right after crossing the border into Cabinda, killing and injuring players and support staff and leaving them all shaken.

This is really bad news for AFCON, tragic for Africa and such terrible planning by the FIFA and the AFCON organising committee.

Togo To Begin Campaign Against Ghana on Monday

Togo are scheduled to begin their cup campaign against Ghana on Monday, but their participation in the tournament now looks in serious doubt.

Cabinda – Rich Oilfields in Disputed Area

Cabinda is a disputed area. It is an enclave or exclave) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Over the years, the status has been disputed by many political organizations in the territory. The situation in Cabinda consists of both Angolan government military forces waging a war with the guerrillas and the oil corporations directly impacting the environment and people of Cabinda.  Here most of the battles are about the rich oilfields.

Sadly the nearly 1 million barrels of oil a day that Angola produces seems not to have a direct impact on the poverty-stricken population of Cabinda.

Obilalé and Akakpo Hurt

It has been reported that GSI Pontivy goalkeeper Obilalé and Vaslui FC defender Akakpo are the two footballers to suffer injuries while five other members of the support team were also hurt. Akakpo reportedly took a bullet in the back while Obilalé was shot in the kidneys.

Cabinda Area Not Safe for Soccer

One thing is clear as the view out across the Indian Ocean on a summer day. This area is not safe to host any matches or sporting events of any kind; has never been and will never be until the various factions and the Angolan government have made peace. It was crazy to attempt to stage such an important tournament in an area where political desperadoes are prepared to kill some of their continent’s greatest sporting stars just to grab some headlines and attract a bit of media attention.

In Cabinda, the safety of players, fans and all those concerned is put in danger and it is obvious that all those matches should be moved to the other cities. Maybe all the Group B matches should be moves to Luanda.

Meeting about “Smooth Running of Competition”

According to the CAF website, on Saturday morning, 9 January 2010, an important delegation be headed by the Angolan Minister on Internal Affairs, Ministers of Youth and Sports, members from the Prime Ministers office as well as a powerful delegation from CAF will be in Cabinda.

The Angolan Prime Minister will meet on Saturday CAF President, Mr Issa Hayatou, to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition.

Popularity: 6% [?]

With the African Nations Cup only days away and excitement building all over Africa, a terrible incident has threatened to derail the competition altogether

Togo’s national team bus was machine-gunned by Angolan rebels on the Congolese border ahead of the African Cup of Nations. Reports on the extent of fatalities and injuries are still mixed, but it seems that the bus driver was fatally wounded and several players have been left in in serious condition.

Togo Team Training in Pointe-Noire, DRC

The Togolese were training in the Congolese city of Pointe-Noire and were travelling the short distance to Cabinda, a disputed exclave of Angola where their group stage matches were to be held,  when a group of rebels began to fire at their team bus.

Cabinda – Angolan Enclave in Democratic Republic of Congo

Cabinda is an oil-rich Angolan enclave in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its sovereignty is disputed by a number of factions and movements. This region has been embroiled in a long-running independence struggle and for some insane reason the organizers of AFCON decided that Cabinda was a good location to host seven Africa Nations Cup matches this month.

Powerful Burst of Gunfire

According to Kickoff.com,  Nantes striker Thomas Dossevi told Radio Monte Carlo. “We had just crossed the border (between Congo and Cabinda, where Togo are to play their Group B matches). We had filled in the border formalities and were surrounded by police.

“Everything was fine. Then there was a powerful burst of gunfire. Everyone dived under the seats and the police fired back. It felt like war had broken out. It’s shocking. When we got off the bus we were asking ourselves what was up.”

African Cup of Nations Tournament Due to Begin on Sunday

The tournament, due to begin tomorrow, is the continent’s last big sporting showcase before 32 teams, including England, arrive in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in June.

Emmanuel Adebayor, one of Manchester City’s star players, and Aston Villa midfielder Moustapha Salifou were on the bus but both were unhurt.

The rebel group FLEC-PM (Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Military Position) have claimed responsibility for the attack, and said more will follow.

Sources: Kickoff.com, football365.com, guardian.co.uk

Popularity: 7% [?]