Overview:
Morocco appealed and CAF overturned Senegal’s victory forcing the West African nation to seek justice in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which promised to be heard on October 8.
The 2027 AFCON Pamoja TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations gets underway on Thursday with 48 nations vying for 24 places at the finals scheduled for June 19 – July 17 next year.
As the competition kicks off, Ismael Kiyonga looks at some of the key talking points.
Winners of last edition still in dispute
The qualifiers for the 2027 edition kick off with the reigning champions still in dispute.
On the pitch, Senegal beat hosts Morocco 1-0 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat, in a final marred by violence following a decision to award the host nation a penalty in the last stages of the game.
Brahim Diaz missed the penalty after more than fifteen minutes delay and Senegal went on to score the winner in extra time.
Morocco appealed and CAF overturned Senegal’s victory forcing the West African nation to seek justice in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which promised to be heard on October 8.
New faces in the dugout
Former Arsenal captain and France 1998 World Cup winner Patrick Vieira leads a host of new faces in the dugout as he takes charge of his country of birth, Senegal.
Pitso Mosimane is also back as South Africa head coach for the second stint having failed to qualify Bafana Bafana for the 2012 edition.
French man Herve Renard who led Ivory Coast to the title in 2015 is also back at the helm of the Elephants.
Veteran French man Claude Le Roy is also back in the dugout with Congo Brazzaville at 78 years.
Other new faces are Amir Abdou (Burkina Faso), Brahim Hemdani (Algeria), Aliou Cisse (Angola), Humberto Bettencourt (Cape Verde), Hesham Yakan (Eritrea), Sebastien Migne (Gabon) and Moine Chabaani (Tunisia)
Several nations still have no adequate facilities to host matches
The qualifiers begin with over 12 nations still missing out on hosting matches due to lack of facilities (stadia) that meet CAF requirements for international/continental matches.
These are Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Gambia, Djibouti, Guinea, Lesotho, Namibia and Siera Leone among others.
Three co-hosts for the first time
For the first time in history, three nations; Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are co-hosting the Africa Cup of Nations.
This changes the qualification scope with only one country in their respective groups joining the co-host.
The general rule is that the top two teams in each group will advance to the finals.
However, in groups containing Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – who have automatically qualified as cohosts – only the highest-ranked team outside the respective host country will go through.
Key players out, others retired
Morocco’s Achraf Hakim and Ismael Saibari are serving a two and three match ban respectively for their behavior in the chaotic final in January.
Senegal’s Sadio Mane is out of the first two matches with what new coach Patrick Vieira described as a physical issue while Pierre Emerick Aubameyang was overlooked by new head coach Sebastien Migne.
Nigeria’s star striker Victor Osimhen will miss the opening qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau as he continues his recovery from a muscle problem. He picked up the injury while playing for his Turkish club Galatasaray.
Naby Keita is among the several established names excluded from the Guinea squad, while Tunisia’s Hannibal Mejbri and Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo are both out with injuries.
Many other players also called time on their international careers this year. This includes Riyad Mahrez, who guided Algeria to the AFCON 2019 title; Edouard Mendy, Senegal’s first-choice goalkeeper during their AFCON 2021 triumph; and Ghana’s Spanish-born forward Inaki Williams.
