AFCON: COVID, empty stadiums and high interest
Associate Professor Stig Jensen has co-authored three articles discussing the recently finalized AFCON in GlobalNyt
In the first of the three articles, Associate Professor Stig Jensen explains that Africa's largest festival kicked off at the Stade Omnisport Paul Biya Olempe in Cameroon's capital Yaoundé on Sunday, January 9, 2022.
He further explains that before the kick-off there was speculation and uncertainty in Western media as to whether the African Football Championships, AFCON, would take place this year. The source of uncertainty was manifolded; worries that Covid-19 would quarantine players, the conflicts in the arid north with Boko Haram in the immediate area, the conflict in southwestern Cameroon rooted in the shells and power of former colonial powers, and especially the reluctance of fans and coaches of major European clubs who did not want to give up their players to national teams - and especially for almost a month as the championships last.
With all of the above, there was plenty to look forward to for Cameroon.
Read the first article here
In the second article “Patriotism or football emergency solution?” co-authored with Peter Breitenstein they explain that several players we see frolicking in Cameroon these days could have been stars at last summer's European Championships. The players have had to choose between Europe and Africa.
The larger teams have failed, while small ones flourished during the group stage of the African Football Championships. “Behind many of the football profiles are people who have had to make difficult choices at times about who they are as players”. In addition to the more personal stories with players who can represent one or the other national team, Associate Professor Jensen and Breitenstein explain that there are more general connections between European countries (primarily former colonial powers) and African countries. “The tournament's biggest disappointment has been the defending champions from Algeria, whose relationship with France is hard to overlook.”
Read the article here
The final article titled “The African Championships have never been more reminiscent of the European… and yet” Associate Professor Stig Jensen and journalist Peter Breitenstein explain that the African Championships and the European Football Championship are miles apart when it comes to their relationship to death.
In a context where football is about life and death, they contrast the crush outside Paul Biya Stadium in Olembe, Cameroun that left eight people dead and 38 injured with Christian Eriksen's heart attack during the European Football Championship in the summer of 2021 as players were forced to continue the game despite. A decision that UEFA has received immense critique for.
Read the article here.
For more on AFCON, spectator tragedies, corruption and internally displaced people? listen here to The Critical Football Magazine: Where Associate Professor Stig Jensen and journalist Buster Emil Kirchner discuss whether Europeans are more interested in how Africans die than how they live, and what AFCON anno 2022 can tell us about that?
All in Danish