So long as the Premier League invests in its players and Fifa pays it lip service, the continent’s flagship tournament will always struggle to fit in
P
erhaps attitudes are not quite as parochial as they once were, but it remains true that, in England at least, the Africa Cup of Nations is discussed less as a tournament in its own right than in terms of what it means for the Premier League.
There will be the usual harrumphing about why the tournament is played in the middle of our season, but the Confederation of African Football has tried to satisfy European clubs only to be thwarted by Fifa and the increasing demands of the calendar.
Scheduling, it must be acknowledged, is not a strength of Caf. Not since 2012 has a Cup of Nations been held in the venue and at the time originally planned: 2013 was switched from Libya to South Africa because of the civil war; 2015 was moved to Equatorial Guinea when Morocco withdrew from hosting over Ebola fears; 2017 was moved to Gabon because of the turmoil in Libya; 2019 was moved from Cameroon to Egypt because of construction delays; 2021 was played in Cameroon, but not until 2022 because of Covid; and 2023 was initially scheduled for Côte d’Ivoire in June/July only to be shunted back to January/February when somebody at CAF belatedly looked at the weather charts and accepted trying to play a tournament in the west African rainy season was nonsensical.
