By Fr Boniface Ochieng, IMC
ABIDJAN, JANUARY 23, 2024 (CISA)- From January 13 this year up until February 11, 2024, the African continent celebrates the greatest football tournament in the continent (African Cup of Nations, +Coupe d’Afrique des Nations, CAN), organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
24 countries are participating in this CAN2023 with a schedule of 52 matches in six stadiums across Ivory Coast.
Côte d’Ivoire, Ivory Coast’s official French name, gained its independence on August 7, 1960. It covers an area of 322,464 km2 with over 28 million persons, whose economy is essentially based on agriculture.
This tournament is played on the soil of a notoriously religious people despite it being a secular nation. Its constitution provides for freedom of worship and expression of religious beliefs or values. Good to note that 42% are Muslims, 39.8% are Christians and 2.2% are Animists.
No wonder if you are keen, on the CAN2023 official song, Akwaba meaning ‘welcome’, at the beginning of the video clip, we see the image of Our Lady of Peace Basilica in Yamsoukoukro, St. Paul Cathedral in Abidjan (both religious edifices are initiatives of the first Ivorian president the Late Felix Houphouet Boigny and were both consecrated by St. Pope John Paul II on different dates), and a mosque representing the religious values of the people imbibed in this tournament.
The church also welcomed the spectators and the participants. For instance, in San Pedro one of the five cities where CAN2023 is played, the Catholic Diocese of San Pedro built an annex hotel named Monseigneur Jean Jacques at the diocesan headquarters.
“This centre will not only be a source of revenue to the diocese but also provide a spiritual atmosphere for those who will use the facility”, exclaimed Fr Nestor Menzan, the Diocesan Finance Administrator.
When the Elephants, the Ivorian national team, are on the pitch nothing moves on. Actually, those days are off days. No school activities. No office work. No farm work. Everything is at a standstill except the vuvuzelas’ noise.
It happened that one of those Elephants’ matches fell on a Thursday. In the majority of the Catholic churches, there were no Eucharistic adorations! “We could not concentrate! Rather than annoying God, we can have adoration after, on another day”, said a catechist. He continued, “I tend to think that’s why we lost the game that day.”
The final round of group games for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is now underway. All teams have played at least twice, but only a few teams have managed to qualify for the knockout stages so far. That means there is still a long way to go, and plenty of shocks still on the cards.
Hosts Ivory Coast are currently outside of the top two after a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Equatorial Guinea on January 22, as are the likes of Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria, Tunisia and Zambia.
