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Johannesburg (AFP)
The most senior African football officials hope that the landmark Nations Cup, to be held in Egypt on June 21, will distract from a series of embarrbading incidents involving them.
In recent weeks, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and First Vice President Amaju Pinnick and VAR have dominated the space reserved for stars such as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Ahmad, a Malagasy, was questioned by the French authorities last week during an investigation into corruption, breach of trust and falsification, while reports that the CAF illegally kits.
CAF's former secretary general, Amr Fahmy, of Egypt, was recently fired after making various serious charges against Ahmad.
These include corruption, badual harbadment, nepotism and contempt of the CAF laws by a leader who succeeded Issa Hayatou for a long time in power, with an anti-corruption ticket.
While the interrogation of Ahmad in France caused a huge embarrbadment, the first Nations Cup with 24 teams and the first organized in June and July received less importance.
At the same time, the Nigerian High Court ordered Pinnick and four other football officials to be judged for stealing millions of dollars for football development.
And if the image of the CAF was not tarnished enough, the return match of the final of the Champions League pitted Wydad Casablanca to a disappointing goal.
The Moroccan club wanted the goal to be referred to the VAR, but only to find out that the system was working badly before the match started and that it could not be used.
Ahmad and his leaders then decided that the return match against Esperance Tunis, who led 2-1 in the overall standings after the return match, was to be replayed.
There have been many VAR controversies since its introduction in Africa last year and it should be used during the Nations Cup, apparently for the round of 16.
The 2019 Nations Cup also has its share of theater. Egypt was named a host only in January to replace Cameroon, which had fallen behind in terms of preparation.
Then the dates were changed: Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia said the players needed more time to recover from Ramadan, Muslims refraining from drinking and eating between sunrise and sunset.
Tunisia also wanted to change some kickoff times, noting that temperatures during afternoon games could exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), especially in Cairo.
– Egypt light favorites –
The Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Ismailia and Suez are the other sites of the tournament. Egyptian favorites Egypt are favored to become champions an eighth time by breaking the record.
There have been four Nations Cup tournaments in Egypt. The home team won three and ranked third in the other.
The Pharaohs will rely heavily on the series tracker Salah, whose penalty allowed Liverpool to win the UEFA Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur this month.
Mane is another star who helped Liverpool conquer Europe: she stood out in a Senegalese team aiming to lift the trophy for the first time after finishing runner-up in 2002.
Egypt and Senegal are among the top six places with defending champions Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia.
If the finals unfolded elsewhere than in Egypt, Morocco would probably be the favorite to succeed again 43 years after their only success.
Their French coach, Hervé Renard, is the only one to have won the tournament with different countries. It allowed Zambia not to hope to triumph to fame in 2012 and repeat the feat with Ivory Coast three years later.
Moroccan stars include Ajax member Hakim Ziyech, who knocked out Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League, before a spectacular loss to Tottenham.
Nigeria hopes Arsenal striker Alex Iwobi will score goals while teamwork is Tunisia's motto, driven by 1980s midfielder, Alain Giresse.
Cameroon has won three of the last ten Nations Cup tournaments and legend of the Indomitable Lions, Roger Milla, said "that there is no reason why they can not keep the trophy in Egypt ".
Among the second seeded, Ghana, Algeria and Ivory Coast could go far while the Democratic Republic of Congo and the third seed, South Africa, are very unpredictable.
? AFP 2019
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