At the start of each edition of the World Cup or any intercontinental tournament, we hope for miracles to take us to the final, so that at least we can have something to say about our football.
South Africa 2010 was a huge step in the right direction for football in Africa but, years after, we’re back to the basics. Decision making has become a big problem in the African society, and sadly football is not exempted.
The performance of African teams outside the shores of the continent has been mediocre, save for few teams who have shone brightly in age-grade competitions. After almost three decades under Issa Hayatou, Ahmad Ahmad came into power after an election that shook the continent’s football. Defeating Hayatou was no mean feat.
The decision taken under Ahmad Ahmad to play the qualification round for age-grade and women’s competition in a zonal format is not only absurd, but will also drag African football years backwards.
Let’s take a look at the performances of Africans teams in international competitions. Nigeria is the most successful team in the history of the Men’s U17 competition with five titles. For U20, Ghana is the most successful team in Africa with one title. In the Olympic Games, only Nigeria and Cameroon have clinched gold for Africa.
For the men’s senior teams, our best performance has been the quarterfinals, with Cameroon, Ghana and Senegal having the honors of reaching that stage.
For Women’s football, only Nigeria and Ghana have come close to winning a title for Africa. Ghana with a third place finish in the U17 World Cup, and Nigeria coming close twice in the U20, losing to Germany on both occasions in the final.
African football is divided into five zones. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are the ‘notable’ football teams in the Northern zone. Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, and Burkina Faso are in the Western Zone. Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon are in the Central African Zone. Ethiopia and Kenya are in the Eastern Zone, while Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia are in the Southern Zone.
Also, due being the zone with the most countries, the Western Zone is divided into two groups (A and B), with Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory coast, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo part of the (B) zone.
This regional qualification format means CAF has ditched the ‘much better’ FIFA ranking system. This, in turn, only means that we will have stronger teams out of competition, while ‘weaker’ teams will participate and might end up representing Africa in the biggest stage.
For age-grade competitions, each zone will have a qualifier first, then the winner(s) will go on to represent the Zone in the competition proper. For instance, Nigeria is the most successful African team in women’s football, winning 10 out of 12 titles.
Ahead of the 2022 Women’s Nations Cup (which will also determine the teams that will represent Africa at the Women’s World Cup), Nigeria will face Ghana in the first round of the regional qualifiers.
Nigeria is currently the best team in Africa according to FIFA’s ranking, while Ghana is the fourth best team. The winner will face Cote d’Ivoire or Niger. Cote D’Ivoire is currently the fifth best team on the continent.
This means that for the Nation’s Cup, fans will only get to see one of the team’s and there’s a possibility of not having the best and most successful team, fourth placed or fifth place in the competition.
This doesn’t only rob teams of the chance to qualify for competitions, it also celebrates mediocrity, as we will have weaker teams go on to represent Africa in FIFA competitions.
To give room for teams to participate, expansions should be made to the current number of teams in tournaments. Also, a proper qualification format which will give equal chance to every team should be adopted, rather than a regional qualification format that tends to give advantage to some regions.
Article by: Okerinde Ayobami Ifedolapo
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