The biennial African Nations Championship (CHAN), one of the most unique international competitions in world soccer, kicks off in Algeria on January 13.
Not to be confused with the Confederation of African Football (Caf)’s other flagship pan-African tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations, countries competing in CHAN can only select players plying their trade in their own national leagues.
This means, for example, that Algeria will not be able to request the services of Riyad Mahrez and Senegal will not be able to resort to Sadio Mane.
More on that shortly. But first, the political dispute that has been the elephant in the room in the build-up to the tournament: why did Morocco withdraw?
Headlines won’t take flight
Morocco are the two-time defending champions, but the North Africans will not achieve a hat-trick after the The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) decided to withdraw – just one day before the opening ceremony.
To make sense of that last-minute decision, you need to understand the political context.
Relations between Morocco and Algeria have been strained for many decades, due in large part to the twists and turns of several different territorial disputes, but in August 2021, when Algeria completely severed diplomatic relations, it also closed its airspace to foreigners. Moroccan planes.
Last month, on December 27, FRMF President and Deputy Budget Minister Fouzi Lekjaa announced that unless the team could land directly in the host city of Constantine, where they would play their matches, aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight, the Atlas Lions would retire. .
A standoff ensued, with neither nation willing to budge. Caf also remained silent on the subject, despite several requests from the BBC to clarify the situation.
It was the FRMF that finally came out in the open on January 12, issuing a statement that said: “The Moroccan team cannot travel to Constantine (Algeria) to play the 7th edition of the African Nations Championship and defend its title in terms of the final. The authorization for the flight of Royal Air Maroc (RAM), the official airline of the Moroccan soccer team, from Rabat to Constantine has not been confirmed.
The ramifications of the withdrawal have not yet been announced, but Caf’s regulations seem to suggest that Morocco could be excluded from the next CHAN.
The BBC has approached Caf for comment but has yet to hear back.
Uganda and Libya also threatened to withdraw from CHAN for legal and financial reasons but, with a few days to go, their respective issues have been resolved and the other teams are expected to compete.
In the wake of such widespread turmoil, Algeria will likely be the bookmakers’ darling.
DR Congo, Mali, Cameroon and Libya are also credible contenders ahead of the tournament.
An explorer’s fantasy
We’ve already established that the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mane won’t be entertaining crowds in Algeria.
So if none of the stellar names are there to add some stardust, why bother?
Well, for those interested in getting a glimpse of the African stars of tomorrow, CHAN remains a must-see TV show.
Take the success of the Moroccan team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as an example.
Nayef Aguerd, Achraf Dari and Jawad El Yamiq made valuable contributions throughout the Atlas Lions’ storied run to the semifinals.
Each of those players was an integral part of Morocco. CHAN’s back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2020helping them get passes to European clubs West Ham United, Stade Brestois and Real Valladolid respectively.
Cameroon’s run in Qatar was slightly less impressive, but two of their best players, Samuel Oum Gouet and Moumi Ngamaleu, are also CHAN alumni and played in the 2016 tournament in Rwanda.
Yves Bissouma, 19, also participated in Rwanda, making a very notable contribution in the semifinals.
When he scored a dramatic last-minute winner against his native Côte d’Ivoire, he immediately became a household name in Mali, even if the midfielder and teammates didn’t. will lose the final against DR Congo.
French giants Lille had already been scouting Bissouma for a number of years, but his performances at CHAN solidified their interest and quickly led to Les Dogues signing the prolific wunderkind.
In addition to Bissouma, which has been part of the English Premier League for more than four years and currently resides in Tottenham HotspurOther notable players who made an impact at European clubs include Leicester City’s Patson Daka, RB Salzburg’s Sekou Koita and Braga’s Al Motasim Al-Musrati.
CHAN is also an integral part of the intracontinental transfer market.
For example, Mali’s Aliou Dieng and Tunisia’s Ali Maaloul have multiple CHAN appearances on their resumes and now play for Al Ahly in Egypt, arguably the biggest club in Africa.
Who are the stars this year?
There will be no shortage of talent on display at CHAN 2022.
To the host Algeria, Ahmed Kendouci It’s worth taking a look.
The 23-year-old box-to-box midfielder leads the Algerian league in scoring with eight goals and is known for being an opportunistic threat.
Another prolific goalscorer looking to make his mark is the Ghanaian striker. Daniel Afrye.
The 21-year-old has already signed a pre-contract with Swiss club FC Zurich, but will nonetheless be able to participate as he is technically currently registered with Hearts of Oak in Ghana.
Afriyie scored in each of Ghana’s four CHAN qualifiers and even went to Qatar, where he was an unused substitute during the Black Stars World Cup campaign.
Senegal Laminate Camera and from Angola zini they are two less established players who could well become key players for their senior teams in the near future.
Camara is an action-packed midfield dynamo hailing from the famed Generation Foot academy that produced Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane, Watford’s Ismaila Sarr and Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr.
Zini is more of a long-legged striker who has already scored three goals in seven games for Angola in highly competitive games and played a handful of games in Europe, on loan at AEK Athens.
The format
You may be wondering why CHAN 2022 is being played in January 2023.
Unsurprisingly, it is due to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused a delay in the international football schedule, and as a result, CHAN was six months behind schedule.
This is the seventh edition, but the first time that Algeria has organized it. The country is inaugurating a new soccer-specific stadium to mark the occasion.
Algiers’ Nelson Mandela Stadium seats 40,784 and will host several major matches during the competition, including the opening match and final on February 4.
The other three venues are the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran, the Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine and the 19 May 1956 Stadium in Annaba.
CHAN 2022 was supposed to feature 18 nations for the first time, instead of 16, after Caf’s executive committee voted to expand the tournament last May.
However, Morocco’s withdrawal has reduced that number to 17, something that has altered the qualifying format planned for the knockout phase.
The participating nations have been divided into two groups of four and three groups of three.
Groups A and B will see the top two teams advance, but what will happen to Groups C, D and E remains to be seen.
Caf’s initial plan was that only the best team in a three-team group would advance, but that will now mean only seven teams will make it to the quarterfinals.
How the organizers will overcome this numerical imbalance has yet to be announced.
Another reason to be attentive to this unique international tournament.
groups
Group A (Algiers): Algeria, Libya, Ethiopia, Mozambique
Group B (Annaba): DR Congo, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Senegal
Group C (Constantine): Sudan, Madagascar, Ghana, Morocco (retired)
Group D (Oran): Mali, Angola, Mauritania
Group E (Oran): Cameroon, Congo, Niger
