This weekend I came to my regular place where I usually watch European football encounters. Venue was full as if it was Barcelona against Madrid or Manchester versus Arsenal, but this time it was something quite different. I wonder if we would have this much audience if this match was some few years back. TP Mazembe, very popular club among Tanzanians nowadays, was taking on against Berekum Chelsea in Sunyani in their last group match in this years CAF Champions League. The only reason that this game have won much of Tanzanians attention is presense of our two players in Mazembe squad, Mbwana Samatta and Thomas Ulimwengu, and maybe Ugandan player who have played for Simba, Patrick Ochan.
Whether we are or not, African games have lost its popularity among football fans in comparing to the past ten or twenty years. Keeping attention in African football looks like kind of old fashioned, fans have adopted European football instead. Some argue that football we play is not attractive, but what they dont know is that playing beautiful game is one thing and making fans to attach to your game is completely different thing.
Back in time, AFCON 98 in Burkina Faso had lots of audience in my locality comparing to this years tournament despite improvements in broadcasting and information technology. Many football fans in Africa dont know even how Champions League and Confederation Cup operates, and many are surprised everyday when they came to know that final matches of these tournament are played in home and away module.
This is not unfortunate, I am quite sure that someone, somewhere is not doing his job. And this is likely within CAF itself. Issa Hayatou has been a president in this highest football governing body in Africa since 1988. Its easy to bet that he has nothing new to offer to African football, for as time elapses, things are becoming even worse. When he aimed to challenge Sepp Blatter in FIFA general elections in 2002, I wondered if he has left any legacy in African football, good enough to make him move forward to world stage football leadership. One of his major goals as CAF president in 1990s was to provide incentives to African football clubs which would stem the flow of African players to Europe, which had little success indeed. As long as corruption and football are inseparate, Hayatou is not far from that, he has serious allegation of receiving bribe from ISL so that they could win television right contract in 1990s. In world cup bid for 2022, Hayatou is alleged to receive, along withfellow Executive Committee member of FIFA Jacques Anouma, $1.5 million bribes from Qatar in order to secure his support for their bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Other controverecies including Togos suspension for two AFCONs and FIFA Olympic Comitee saga, which he was elected its chairman while he was still under investigation for bribe allegations. His announcement was later denied by FIFa in what was regarded as technical error.
It is not my opinion that Hayatou has not doing anything since he had been a president, but its time we have to say enough of him. CAFs executive committee is Northern-Westerndominated, among its current sixteen members, eleven of them are from West and North Africa. We can judge ability of rest members, including Leodgar Tenga, by looking at status of football in organization they govern. Its ridiculous to think that Tenga and his allies will make any more positive moves for our African football. We need to try some new faces for sure.
Sponsorship of CAF tournament provokes another failure of Hayatous era. In Champions League for instance, participants teams ensure themselves with transport, meal and accommodation until they reach group stages. National teams suffer the same problem when they play qualifying games. One would wonder why such big institution fails to seek sponsors to cover up these financial gap. CAFs sponsors includes Orange Telecommunications, PepsiCO, Standard Bank, Nàsuba Express and Samsung which deliver sponsorship package for several tournaments. CAF in hands of Hayatou, in time where football is almost biggest business in globe, have failed to attract sponsors who would furfill the demand of our game. South African FA have at least managed to secure big deals from sponsors and PSL is doing more than fine in hands of MTN, Telkom, Nedbank, ABSA Bank and SuperSport despite previous season delay over new contracts.
Information on time yet again kills this organization. Unlike FIFA and UEFA, whose websites are all year long on time and up to date, CAF seems not to care much on this. I regulary visit CAF website, trying to cath some live interviews with coaches, or some previews before big games in Africa, but all in vain. In recent world where online media is taking over print and electronic media, there is no way one can avoid updates via websites, just like how CAF did.
Their TV broadcasting of tournaments also shakes, except in AFCON where they handle official rights, in Champions League and Confederation Cup things are worse enough to irritate. Actualy, they do nat have official TV patner, they had this partnership with AFNEX back in time, but in more than three years they work it alone. Thats why you find it easier for local channels to air UEFA Champions League than our league.
African Footballer of the Year award leaves question inside me than answers. In my opinion, I thought that it could have been a chance to promote our local players than selecting nominees who are playing in Europe and have already make it in football. Since these award begun in 1992, Emmanuel Amuneke is the only player to win it from Africa in 1994 when he was playing for Zamalek. Last player who plays inside Africa to be nominated in top three was Mohamed Aboutreka, an Egyptian playing for National Al-Ahly, who came second behind Emmanuel Adebayor in 2008. South America denotes good example in this. Since 1986, an award could only be won by players who plays their football in South America. In 1998, change was made to enable those who plays in Mexico to get nominated. This was due to participation of Mexican clubs in Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
Well, all challenges above could be solved by changing personel in largest football governing body in Africa. I am not guarantying that kicking out Hayatou and his allias out of CAF would bring immediate solution to our problems, but at least you can not solve problems using same mind that created them. Take it from south African football league and structure, which is likely to be the smartest one in Africa. Im not aware of how many South African are directly involved in CAF, but I predict that their presence will take it to another level.
Bye bye till then, hoping that African football will nourish, just like back in time when every football fan around couldnt wait to see Theophilus Doctorson Doctor Khumalo in AFCON 98 final against Egypt in Ouagadougou.