Vuvuzela South Africa

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.

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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

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Well today, the South African Football Association (SAFA) announced the appointment of Leslie Sedibe as its Chief Executive Officer. This follows the announcement of the resignation of the outgoing CEO Raymond Hack yesterday. His contract was due to end after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Raymond Hack, Outgoing SAFA CEO

Raymond Hack, Outgoing SAFA CEO

Hack will, however, continue with his other football commitments and has said that he will be available when the Association needs him. “It has been a privilege for me to work for this organisation, but most importantly it was a great pleasure serving football. I am not leaving under any cloud, there is no animosity, and I was not pushed. If my services are still needed I will avail myself. We are now in the new four-year cycle of the SAFA leadership, I can only wish them well,” said Hack.

Leslie Sedibe, New SAFA SEO

Leslie Sedibe, New SAFA CEO

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Leslie Sedibe as our new CEO. Sedibe is a young and visionary leader and we are confident that he will take the organisation to new and greater heights,” said SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani on the SAFA website.

Sedibe who is a lawyer by profession, is currently the head of legal at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa. He is also a member of the interim board of the national broadcaster, the SABC.

Source: www.safa.net

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Jabulani Angola

Confederation of African Football (CAF) and adidas has unveiled the Official Match Ball for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Like the 2010 World Cup Match Ball, the Afcon ball is called ‘Jabulani Angola’ and differs from the World Cup Jabulani only in colour.

Jabulani Angola

16 teams will use the Jabulani Angola ball as they battle to become champions of Africa from January 10th to 31st in Angola

Jabulani Angola is inspired by the yellow, red and black Angolan flag and also features the ground-breaking Grip’n’Grove profile, which will help provide Africa’s best players with a stable ball flight and perfect grip under all conditions.

“After the spectacular success of the first ever official ball for CAF, the “Wawa Aba” in Ghana 2008, we are proud to present to you the new official ball for African football for the next two years.”

“I have confidence that the Jabulani Angola will be the perfect icon for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations,” said Amr Shaheen, Marketing Director of CAF.

The word Jabulani – which means “to celebration” in isiZulu – reflects not only Africa’s but the entire World’s approach to the Orange Africa Cup of Nations.

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Arsene Wenger, Arsenal Manager - Unhappy about CAF in January

The African Nations Cup happens every second year in January and every time the English Premier League Managers pretend that they never saw it coming and start complaining about losing their best players.

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal Manager

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager will see midfield duo Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue depart for Angola in January for duty with Cameroon and Ivory Coast, respectively.

And while the competition will be completed at the end of January, Wenger feels that the after-effects could still be hampering players involved for the remainder of the Premier League campaign.

So far in this festive period, Wenger, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti and Portsmouth manager Avram Grant have hit out at the timing of the competition.

The African Nations Cup has become a bigger nuisance for Premier League bosses as more Didier Drogbas and Michael Essiens make the switch to England’s top clubs.

The fact that the competition is held in January, for around three weeks, which symbolises an important phase in a club’s title chase, or battle against the dreaded drop, is another cause for concern.

FIFA Wants AFCON held in July by 2016

Last year when this same unhappiness erupted amongst the European managers, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that he wanted the tournament to be held in either June or July by 2016, to fit in with the international calendar.

While this may benefit European clubs and several of the continent’s stars, many countries in central and west Africa will not get a chance to host the CAF event as it will coincide with their rain-soaked season. But to date, no official noise has been made with regard to any changes.

According to football365 Players missing by club:

4: Portsmouth (Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda, Nwankwo Kanu, Aruna Dindane)
4: Chelsea (Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, John Mikel Obi)
3: Man City (Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kelvin Etuhu)
3: Hull City (Kamel Ghilas, Daniel Cousin, Seyi Olofinjana)
2: Arsenal (Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue)
2: Everton (Joseph Yobo, Ayegbeni Yakubu)
2: Fulham (John Pantsil, Dickson Etuhu)
1: Tottenham (Benoit Assou-Ekotto)
1: Aston Villa (Moustapha Salifou)
1: Sunderland (John Mensahtoke, Mamady Sidibe)
1: Bolton (Danny Shittu)
1: Burnley (Andre Bikey)
1: Wigan (Richard Kingson)
1: Wolves (George Elokobi)
0: Man Utd
0: Liverpool
0: West Ham
0: Birmingham
0: Blackburn

Photo: Arsene Wenger, Arsenal Manager – football365.com

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