Displaying items by tag: AFCON

The former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, says that President Muhammadu Buhari did not ask him to discard his political ambition.

He said this after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, on Monday.

The former Lagos State governor told reporters that becoming Nigeria’s president is his lifelong ambition.

The National leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says his visit to the Presidential Villa on Monday offered him the opportunity to formally inform President Muhammadu Buhari of his Presidential ambition in 2023.

When asked how the President responded to his declaration, Tinubu said, “He is a democrat. He didn’t ask me to stop, he didn’t ask me not to attempt and pursue my ambition. It is a lifelong ambition. You are running a democratic dispensation and you must adopt the principles and values and virtues of democracy.”

Tinubu said he’s qualified to make Nigeria better.

“I don’t want to discuss individuals now, I must discuss myself. I have the confidence, vision and capacity to build on the foundation of the President and turn Nigeria better. I have done that with commitment and yielding zeal in Lagos State.

“You have seen that experience and capacity to turn things around and that is also what we are doing. The confusion and drift of the past in PDP are being corrected as we are today. Going back to the data of how many barrels of oil we were producing when we took over and what we have today.

“You now see excellent infrastructure. Let us think back and be intellectually inquisitive as to the past and the present as well as what the future holds for Nigeria,” he added.

The former Lagos governor dodged the question of a potential race for the APC ticket between him and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, whose support groups have been mobilising for his candidacy.

The former governor of Lagos state, says there is no rule preventing a kingmaker from becoming king.

Tinubu played a role in the merger of different parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the subsequent emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the party’s candidate in 2015, thus earning him the moniker.

Fielding questions from reporters after meeting with Buhari at the presidential villa, Tinubu said he would pursue his ambition without the title of “kingmaker”.

“About the cap of kingmaker. I have never seen the cap of a kingmaker before,” he said.

“That is the truth and I have never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country that a kingmaker cannot be a king – unless you commit murder.

“So, whatever is your attribute [of me] is your own opinion. Me, I want to pursue my ambition without the title of a kingmaker. You can write your literature and story based on your own perception.”

The wait is finally over for Cameroon, which hosts the Africa Cup of Nations three years later than initially planned as its own Indomitable Lions seems to be ready to face Burkina Faso in their first AFCON 2021 match.

"If we give it our all and do what is necessary, I think we will win the game. No game is easy against African teams. All African teams have reached a certain level. We have to give our best, be united and be really, really ambitious to be able to win the matches," said Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso captain Bertrand Traore has deplored as "a scandal" coronavirus testing procedures at the Africa Cup of Nations after up to five players and coach Kamou Malo tested positive in the run-up to Sunday's opener against hosts Cameroon.

The Aston Villa forward told a press conference in Yaounde on Saturday: "It's a scandal, we cannot be deprived of first team players 24 hours before the match."

Assistant coach Firmin Sanou, standing in for Malo, said: "We have four or five Covid cases, mainly first team players, we're not going to name names."

"It calls everything into question, but we have confidence in the players who will replace them," continued Sanou, who hit out at the organization with two different medical teams arriving to test the team.

"Yesterday morning (Friday) a medical team showed up at our hotel for tests, when we tried to understand who had sent them, the CAF (African Football Confederation) clearly told us that they hadn't sent them so we refused to do the tests," said Sanou.

"Another team arrived at 10 p.m., apparently the CAF team, we carried out the tests which informed us of 4 to 5 cases of Covid.

"I say 4 or 5 because they say that our first player tested did not carry out the test ... " he continued.

The Burkinabè delegation are disputing the fact that the tests were not PCR tests, which must be carried out 48 hours before the match, and have requested a second opinion.

Traore said: "The authorities must review the organisation. We cannot accept this decision. We can redo tests of our positive players."

[africanews]

As part of CAF’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is upheld, Integrity officers of all the participating were instructed to educate and create awareness on all integrity related matters ahead of the tournament.

The Integrity Officer of the Ghana Football Association, Obed Tuffuor briefed Ghana's delegation to the AFCON via Zoom,on the Friday, January 7, 2022, on several integrity matters and urged members of delegation to adhere to the Integrity guideline and principles as provided by the continents football governing body CAF.

These guidelines and principles will ensure that delegates exhibit high levels of loyalty, Integrity, sportsmanship and Ethics throughout the tournament which will be held from Sunday, January 9 - Sunday, February 6, 2022 in Cameroon.

[ghanafa]

The TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations will for the first time in the history of the competition use the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for all 52 matches of the tournament starting in Cameroon this weekend.

The competition will kick-off on Sunday, 09 January 2022 with hosts Cameroon playing Burkina Faso at Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon. The final match will be played on 06 February 2022 at the same venue.

A list of 63 top match officials, including women top referees Salima Mukasanga (Rwanda), Carine Atemzabong (Cameroon), Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco) and Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco) will officiate the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 matches.