AFCON 2021: A Question of Sport’s (Football) 3Rs — Race, Realities and Reflections
We are fast approaching the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations (i.e., AFCON 2021), which runs between 9 January and 6 February 2022 for reasons everyone fully understands — Covid-19 and the global lockdowns. Thanks to the commentary by Ian Wright, former England and Arsenal striker, African football tournaments are part of the global football calendar and should be recognised as such.
“…contrasted with the coverage by the Western media of European players’ release for Euro 2020, that of Europe-based African players honouring their countries’ call to participate in AFCON 2021 was ‘disrespectful’ and ‘tinged with racism’. There is no greater honour than representing your country.”
It is against this backdrop that we are looking at African football from three perspectives; race, realities and reflections, or the 3Rs.
Race
In terms of race the nasty scenes of monkey chants especially against black players (even those in the England squad) when playing at club or national level in Europe is only a side of the story. The other side is what Ian Wright has espoused so beautifully: attitude towards tournaments being held in Africa requiring African players in European leagues to return?
Realities
This year’s host Nation, Cameroon, may well be the favourite considering their winning pedigree in the FIFA World Cup. It also avails the nation an opportunity to showcase the five main cities selected as hosts of the tournament, namely Douala and its Japoma Stadium, Yaoundé and its Ahmadou Ahidjo, and Olembé Stadiums, Bafoussam and its Kouekong Stadium, Garoua and its Roumdé-Adjia Stadium and finally the Limbe-Buea venue which houses the Limbe Omnisport Stadium.
Twenty-four teams, divided into six groups, include the host and five-time winner Cameroon, Burkina Faso, runners-up of 2013 AFCON, defending champions Algeria, and Nigeria.
We predict the following as favourites going into the next round of the tournament:
Group A: *Cameroon, *Burkina Faso; Group B: *Senegal, *Guinea; Group C: *Morocco, *Gabon; Group D: *Nigeria, *Egypt; Group E: *Côte d’Ivoire, *Equatorial Guinea; Group F: *Gambia, *Mali.
Sponsorship of the tournament has changed hands from a Telcom (Orange) to an Energy group showcasing its green credentials to the world. This year’s sponsor, TotalEnergies is a broad energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity — and committed to energy that is affordable, cleaner, more reliable and accessible to as many people as possible.
Reflections
We hold the view that African football may be getting bad press coverage in the West because, even as some star African players shine in leagues in the English Premier League and such other leagues, the management of African football teams is appalling.
In a 2010 article, Madichie had highlighted the state of anarchy and the politically charged hatred between two North African giants Egypt and Algeria who have met about four times in four months amidst violence and the suspension by the Confederated of African Football (CAF) of the Togolese team which pulled out of AFCON after being brutally attacked in the border town of Cabinda (Angola) — and sack of the entire team and management of the Benin side both for poor performances, under the watch of FIFA. He asked whether the beautiful game called football deserved such a bad name as all eyes looked towards the continent for the World Cup which was to be held in South Africa that year.
In 2011, another article posited that although corporations in Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars, had a good outing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, had demonstrated their capacity and willingness to commit resources to football development, local football clubs and the national team had not branded football business enough to make it attractive to sponsors. The Black Stars’ participation in that World Cup and the one preceding it, and held in Germany, had, however, improved the attractiveness of football to the public, which needed to be built upon.
In 2016, yet another article “Re-branding the Nigerian Football League — open play or dead ball?” highlighted the challenges at the club level, with a view to aligning this with developments at the country level, and especially so in the aftermath of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil — an international event — where Nigeria participated alongside four others — Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
“In the long history of the FIFA Football World Cup, only three African teams have ever reached the quarter-finals — notably Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.”
Although Nigeria’s first-team players plied their trade in Europe, there remained a challenge epitomised by the “disconnect” between the domestic league and the national team composition. Consequently, brand ambassadors are proposed as one of the key conduits for re-aligning the identified disconnect.
Finally, and most recently in 2020, and article entitled “Internationalisation and branding strategy: A case of the English Premier League’s success in an emerging market” analysed “how professional football clubs have attained success with internationalisation and branding strategies in foreign markets.” The study found that the strength of professional football brand equity is jointly determined by the level of brand awareness, brand loyalty and perceived quality. However, increasing competition in international markets require professional football clubs to clearly define their marketing strategies to improve how fans perceive them.
References available upon request.
***** Nnamdi O. Madichie is a Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Kigali, where Robert Ebo Hinson also serves as Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic.
Originally published at https://www.myjoyonline.com.
