Is Cameroon ready for the Africa Cup of Nations?

Although most of us who follow football are focused on the Euros right now, there's another significant football championship that’s on the horizon. 

The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) was scheduled to take place this year in Cameroon – but then the Confederation of African Football decided to postpone the event to early 2022. 

It’s not surprising given that the coronavirus pandemic remains a threat to many on the continent. 

The 2019 championship was also supposed to have been hosted by Cameroon. But then at the last minute, Egypt took over. This time though, the Confederation of African Football says there is no alternative, and the event will go ahead in Cameroon. 

Tournaments like Afcon can be a defining moment for a host country. 

Njie Enow, who is the head of sport at state broadcaster CRTV, says it's "something huge" in Cameroon as the last time it hosted the Africa Cup of Nations was in 1972. 

He says there’s a lot of excitement but also worries that a lot of money has been consumed "constructing 60,000-seat, ultra-modern stadiums."

He went on to tell me that Egypt - which he describes as a "football giant in Africa" - managed to host a good competition with stadiums hosting between 20,000 and 40,000 thousand fans. 

But there’s another fact we shouldn’t forget. In 2018, as the decision to move Afcon to Egypt was being made, Cameroon was facing a worsening security threat from armed groups calling for the independence of the English-speaking regions of the country. 

That was a concern then and it’s a situation that still hasn’t been resolved.

This article originally appeared on BBC Sport

Photo: AFP