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Caf in Cameroon for 2020 Chan inspection

Tuesday September 24 2019
CAF

New Cameroon coach Antonio Conceicao da Silva Oliveira. PHOTO | COURTESY

An inspection team from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Tuesday begins assessing Cameroon’s readiness to host the 2020 African Nations Championship (Chan).

The seven-man delegation headed by Caf’s first vice president, Constant Omari will inspect the sporting infrastructure and accommodation facilities in the cities of Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam and Garoua, a statement by the continental football body has said.

Caf stripped Cameroon of the hosting rights to this year’s African Cup of Nations (Afcon) citing delays in infrastructural preparations, but the country has since intensified preparations ahead of the 2021 edition and the Chan 2020.

Ethiopia withdrew as hosts of Chan 2020 and Caf directly awarded the hosting rights to Cameroon.

Earlier this month, the host country created a 12-man committee to supervise and report on the state of advancement sporting and accommodation projects for the tournament.

The committee is headed by the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Prof Narcisse Mouelle Kombi with the President of country’s FA (FECAFOOT), Seidou Mbombo Njoya as vice, while long time former president of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), Issa Hayatou is Special Adviser to the organisers.

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Mr Mouelle Kombi told the state broadcaster, the Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), that at the end of their mission, the Caf inspection team will confirm Cameroon’s capacity to host the competition, which exclusively features players from their respective national championships.

Last week, the minister and some members of the organising committee toured the various project sites. The Caf inspection mission ends on September 30.

Besides infrastructural preparations, Cameroon has also been fine-tuning strategies to also win the trophy on home soil. A new technical staff was Friday appointed to the helm of the home-based lions. The new technical staff is headed by Yves Clement Aroga.

“My team and I have already started working; identifying the best local players,” the new head coach said.

The first leg matches of the final round of the qualifiers for the championship took place at the weekend with some surprising outcomes.

Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo recorded wins over favourites Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria respectively in the West B zone while Tanzania and Ethiopia were respectively beaten at home by Sudan and Rwanda in the Central-East Zone.

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