2012 NATIONS CUP: Cote’d Ivoire and Ghana talking, Namibia protesting

Ghana and Cote’d Ivoire were the major focus after the draws for the 2012 Cup of Africa Nations were made in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea last weekend.

The two West African nations are considerably the top sides for the title after giants Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria failed to make it to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Based on current form the Elephants of Cote’d Ivoire stand out clear. They had 100% during the qualification matches, while Ghana also made an impressive showing winning away in Sudan during their last qualifying game.

Ghana have been drawn alongside Botswana, Mali and Guinea in Group D, while Cote’d Ivoire are to face Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola in group B. Co-hosts Gabon, Niger, Morocco and Tunisia are in group C. The other hosts, Equatorial Guinea, have Libya, Senagal and Zambia in group A.

The three week tournament will start on January 21, 2012 when Equatorial Guinea play Libya and Senegal face Zambia in Group A.

However, Namibia are threatening to throw the tournament overboard as they are poised to drag the Confederation of Africa Football to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the participation of Burkina Faso.

Namibia had protested the usage of Herve Zengue by Burkina Faso during their qualification match. But last Friday, CAF dismissed Namibia’s appeal.

The Namibians maintain that Caf is ignoring one of its own rulings, which states that any team fielding a ‘non-qualified player’ should still lose a match regardless of any protest.

The Namibian FA said that it will first appeal to Caf and, if necessary, the Court of Arbitration for Sport afterward.

Article 36.12 states that a team which allows a ‘non-qualified or a suspended player to take part in group matches shall lose the match by penalty (3-0), even in the absence of protests/reservations’.

Cameroon-born Zengue appeared in two matches for Burkina Faso during the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers, both of which resulted in victories over Namibia.

However, had Namibia been awarded the points – since they believe Zengue to be ineligible to play for Burkina Faso since he has yet to receive Fifa clearance – then the Brave Warriors would have qualified for the finals.

This is because the six points from two technical 3-0 victories would have seen them finish Group F with an unsurpassed nine points – five more than the Burkinabes’ revised total.

“For us, it is very clear that the reason it took so long to arrive at what appears to be a simple decision is because people were looking for technicalities,” Barry Rukoro, the General Secretary of the Namibian FA, told BBC Sport.

“Because you will note that the merits of the case were never addressed.”

When Caf dismissed the case, it did so on the grounds that Namibia had failed to fulfil Article 37.1 of its Nations Cup rules.

‘[A protest against the qualification of a player] must be preceded by a nominal and motivated protest formulated before the match on the proper form of the match by the captain of the protesting team and communicated to the captain of the opposing team who will countersign it,’ the rules state.

Rukoro stresses that his organisation did indeed follow the ruling.

“We approached the match commissioner before the match, who directed us to the match referee. Before kick-off, the two captains were called, they signed the protest and the documents were taken by the referee,” he explained.

“If the referee did not submit those documents as part of his document, it should not be our problem as we are not the ones appointing the referee.”

“The provisions of Article 37.1 evolved right in front of thousands of Namibians sitting in the pavilion waiting for the match to happen so it is very unfair for someone in Cairo to say that did not happen.

“We are going to appeal in terms of the regulations to Caf but even if that appeal does not succeed, because we believe we have a very good case, we will go all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”

Apart from this the tournament is set to roll with Ivorian captain Didier Drogba dreaming a Ghana vs Cote’d Ivoire final.

“I have been dreaming about this situation [an Ivorian-Ghanaian final] since the full line-up of teams for the Africa Cup of Nations was known. If this happens I know history will repeat itself!” the Chelsea forward says.

However, Ghana Football Association chairman, Kwesi Nyantakyi, is cautiously optimistic.

“The tournament will see the absence of teams like Cameroon, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria and that means the competition would miss something, some excitement that these countries bring with their big following. But with every competition, new sides emerge.” he told www.ghanafa.org.

The Black Stars, four-time champions and silver medalist at the last competition would be gunning for a fifth title but Nyantakyi does not believe the notable absence of the big guns would play into Ghana’s favour.

“Yes, we (Ghana) are one of the big sides but we can’t just assume that we would lift the title because some teams are missing. Before you lift the title, you’ve got to play every team; I mean the best at any given time.

“There are still big sides and every other team has an equal chance of competing for the title.”

For Nyantakyi, Senegal and Ivory Coast present the biggest threat to Ghana’s quest for a fifth title.

“I think that Senegal and Cote’d Ivoire are the sides who stand out. They have very good players and are good,” Nyantakyi said.