Football: Troubled Gabon Says Ready To Host Africa Cup Of Nations

Football: Troubled Gabon says ready to host Africa Cup of Nations

LIBREVILLE, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2016 ) - Gabon insists it is ready to host the African Cup of Nations despite concern about the state of preparations amid political instability just one month ahead of the opening ceremony.

The CAN is due to run from January 14 to February 5 next year but was thrown into doubt after violence broke out following President Ali Bongo's controversial re-election in August. Call for Africa's showcase football tournament to be moved to a different country were heard following rioting after the vote whose outcome is still contested.

Four cities will host the tournament and unrest was reported in at least two of them including Oyem, the northern city close to Cameroon, where delays in work on the football stadium are causing problems.

In September, sports Minister Nicole Assele expressed her "concerns" when visiting the new stadium where the group made up of African champions Ivory Coast, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Togo will play.

Assele was left in doubt over the "finishing of the changing rooms, the lifts and the exterior of the stadium", while Gabon daily newspaper L'Union, which covered her visit, reported that the stadium had yet to be connected to electricity and running potable water.

The newspaper published a photo on Monday showing the stadium's patchy grass covering, with a caption saying: "Given the holes in certain parts, there's still work to be done to make it a quality pitch." Groundsman Jean-Daniel Ndong Nze, a former professional player, explained that his team were adding sand to reinforce and level out the pitch.

Another group made up of Algeria, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and Senegal will be based in Franceville, where minister Assele said the stadium is well prepared and "ready for kick-off." Also in Libreville, the Amitie stadium should be operational for the two opening day matches (Gabon-Guinea Bissau, Cameroon-Burkina Faso) on January 14.

However the fourth host city, Gabon's main seaport, Port-Gentil, presents logistical and other challenges for the organisers because it is an island with no bridge connecting it to the mainland.

That means fans of Group D, which comprises Egypt, Ghana, Uganda and Mali, will have to travel by boat or plane to the centre of the country's oil and timber industries. The new 20,000-capacity stadium has just been completed and the pitch is set to be tested in a match on January 5, only 12 days before Ghana take on Uganda and Egypt face Mali there