The boss of African football, Patrice Motsepe, said Friday he was confident about the security of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) which begins Saturday in Ivory Coast, two years after a deadly stampede , in Cameroon. “I am satisfied with the appropriate measures that have been taken to ensure that we will avoid the painful experience that we had in Cameroon,” declared the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) during a long conference press, in Abidjan.
In 2022, during the round of 16 between Cameroon and the Comoros, eight people died in a stampede at the gates of the Olembé stadium, north of Yaoundé. “The accident in Cameroon was entirely avoidable,” admitted Mr. Motsepe, president of CAF since 2021. On security issues, the Ivorian authorities assured that they were ready with more than 17,000 members of the police. deployed for the competition. The Ivorian government has also invested nearly 1.5 billion dollars for various infrastructure projects, notably the construction of the Ebimpé stadium (60,000 spectators) in the suburbs of Abidjan which is to host the opening match on Saturday between Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau, as well as the final on February 11.
This is the first time since 1984 that Ivory Coast has organized the tournament. “Our goal is to make African football world-class football,” said Mr. Motsepe. A total of 24 teams will compete during this CAN in six stadiums spread across five cities: in addition to the economic capital Abidjan, the matches will take place in Yamoussoukro (center, administrative capital), Bouaké (center), Korhogo (north) and San Pedro (southwest).
