Cav's Place

Been watching the Africa Cup of Nations matches and I yet again have to wonder why doesn’t somebody do something to make this competition less of a chore for the important players and their clubs and more interesting for everyone as a result? I mean, there are more than enough highly skilled players that do or may play in the continent’s national teams, yet the result is always far below any expectations that should be entirely reasonable when you simply read the list of names, and this is due to a combination of reduced incentives, poor facilities, uncertain conditions, security concerns, relatively low number of supporters present and fact that it takes place at the start of the year, when some of those who play in major championships would actually have matches to play and the rest should be training for the second half of the season.

Since this is only meant to be a very quick post, I’m simply going to ask why isn’t something done about the issues that can be solved without necessarily needing to change the situation in the region as a whole? For example, couldn’t something be done about the schedule, either by finding ways to schedule the Africa Cup of Nations during the summer as well, in countries where this may be possible, or by enforcing at least a brief winter break on European championships while it’s taking place? Couldn’t the matter of who organizes it be settled according to the stability and security of the country in question, even if that will mean that only a few countries will be eligible? Or, even though this would rather defeat the purpose of an African competition, if no African country would seem likely to meet the conditions in some years, couldn’t it be organized in some southern European country, such as Spain or Portugal, possibly Italy, or maybe even Turkey or Greece? And couldn’t FIFA impose some caps on ticket prices that would take into account the widespread poverty in the region, and possibly also direct more of its funds towards both prize money for this competition and the improvement of African football infrastructure in general?
Sure, some of these things may be rather problematic and risk being met with some resistance, and that may be putting it mildly, but many would benefit from such improvements, and I’m not only talking about the locals. I mean, yes, a better chance to enjoy good matches and make use of improved infrastructure, starting from but not limited to that which is used specifically for football, plus of course, and more importantly, any potential positive impact on the overall security and stability situation in the region, will first and foremost impact those who live there and who often need any such help they can get, considering the difficulties they’re constantly facing, yet even the big clubs and the important football federations or associations may notice long-term benefits if the level of the competition would improve, including more talented local players getting a chance to shine and possibly get transferred and better exposure for said big clubs among local potential fans who aren’t that poor.