I would like to make my position on this debate very clear from the outset. In the face of extreme poverty and so many gloomy situations on the African continent (including Ebola), it almost amounts to cruelty to deny millions of people a month-long of probably the only source of genuine entertainment, that is football.
Yes, we love the English Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, the Ligue 1, the Serie A, among others. But nothing comes bigger and for as many people as the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). Unlike the World Cup that had only 5 African representatives, 16 countries are involved in the AFCON, which means a lot more Africans feel part of the game. Ebola is deadly, and if there is any chance of the disease spreading by reason of the tournament, then not even the AFCON should be spared. The point though is, have we really thought through the question: "How can AFCON2015 be hosted in the face of Ebola?" My answer is, probably no.
One thing anybody who has ever watched an AFCON match on TV before would not fail to notice is the thousands of empty seats in the stadiums, especially in matches that do not involve the host nation. It happens during every tournament I have watched. The fact is that, there are very few travelling football fans on the continent, for obvious reasons. This is after all the poorest continent in the world, as well as the continent where airfares are most expensive! And while hotel and living conditions are not the best in the world, they probably are relatively the most expensive in some cases (take Luanda, Angola for example). What most countries do for tournaments is to organise and pay for a supporters group to represent the country during matches. Therefore, it is a fact that whoever hosts AFCON2015 will not have to deal with a mass of travelling supporters from participating countries. So let's look at specific measures that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the host country could adopt, to make sure the tournament comes off in the face of Ebola.
Possible measures
1. There should be NO travelling supporters from any participating country. This includes supporters groups. CAF should change its hosting rules to allow the host country to deny visas to anyone travelling to watch AFCON2015. Only the selected players and accredited officials should be allowed into the host country. This will have the same effect as the qualifying matches. What will be different is that CAF should in this case encourage forming in-country supporters groups for each participating nation. This will consist of nationals of those countries who were already legally resident in the host country by December 1, 2014. This excludes temporary visitors, even if they were in the country by that date. CAF should then pay for additional number of citizens of the host nation to join the supporters groups of all the participating countries. Each country could have say 150-200 paid supporters who will watch all matches in the replica jerseys of the countries they represent. This will create almost the same atmosphere as though the visiting teams had sent in their home supporters. Anybody who watches SuperSport's coverage of the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) will know that the stadiums are mostly half-empty but the cameras always zoom on the few vociferous fans who sing their hearts out and make the TV viewing much more exciting. We can play AFCON2015 with rented supporters for the visiting teams, in addition to the home fans.
2. With high airfares and high cost of hotel and living expenses, hosting the tournament in Morocco or another country that is far away from the affected West African countries in itself will ensure that not many individuals from the affected countries will want to travel to watch the tournament anyway. But even for accredited players and officials, the host nation will have the right to deny visas to anyone who has travelled to any Ebola-affected country 30 days prior to their planned entry into the host nation.
3. The fact is, CAF has consulted with the World Health Organisation (WHO), and latter's advice is that there is no real risk to the host of this tournament. There could be several layers of Ebola checks conducted on the accredited players and officials of each visiting team both within the country of origin and on arrival at the host country. If Morocco allowed players and officials from Guinea, one of the Ebola-affected countries, to play all 3 of their home AFCON2015 qualifying matches in Morocco, could Morocco or any other country not adopt the same measures to ensure the tournament goes ahead? What's the real difference between the players and officials who participated in the qualifying matches and those who will participate in the tournament, if other suggested measures are also implemented?
I would say, let AFCON2015 go ahead. If Morocco won't host it, let them stay away and let another country do it.
Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako, Football Fan, Ghana.
