Foot: a CAN every 4 years much more profitable, is it credible?

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

Pierre Rondeau, sports economist and consultant for the RMC Sports group, considers "fragile" two strong proposals formulated by Gianni Infantino to boost the competitiveness of African football: to multiply by four or six times the income of the African Cup of Nations by organizing it every four years, and building infrastructure (stadiums, in the lead) in each of the countries of the continent via $ 1 billion. Interview.

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RFI: Pierre Rondeau, the president of the International Football Federation (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, has invited CAF to organize the African Cup of Nations (CAN) every four years instead of every two years. The FIFA boss assured that the revenues of a CAN every four years could be multiplied by four or even six compared to an edition organized every two years. Do you think this is possible?

Pierre Rondeau: There are several elements to take into account when wondering about this four to six times more income. When we make a comparison with the major international sports competitions, especially in football such as the World Cup or the Euro (which take place every four years), their income is much higher than that of an African Cup of nations occurring every two years. If I make a simple comparison, the CAN is 45 to 50 million dollars on an edition while the Euro 2016 in France […] is 1.93 billion euros in turnover for UEFA (the European Football Confederation, Editor's note). We are on a colossal difference. This suggests that, yes, if we imposed a rarity with a CAN every four years, we would expect that there would be a fairly significant increase in revenues and turnover.

Now, the whole question is whether this increase would be solely due to an event organized every four years, with greater visibility, better organization, greater sporting intensity. It is very difficult to estimate that, because the competition will take place every four years, we will be able to increase revenues four to six times. What is certain is that the CAN is behind in terms of its economic costing. But the only answer which consists in saying "organize the CAN every four years instead of every two years to multiply by four or six times the income", that seems to me rather fragile and rather weak as argument.

Do we know of an example of a major sporting event organized less often and whose revenues have exploded?

When we look at the history of major sports competitions, it is rather the opposite that has taken place. It was rather by delaying the waiting time between two events that we were able to increase media and economic gains.

The most recent example comes from FIFA. She, who requests that the CAN be held every four years, has as a project, as wish, that the Women's World Cup be held every two years instead of every four years, in order to increase its media coverage and the popularity of women's soccer. [...]

Similarly, the Summer and Winter Olympics were held every four years, the same year, until 1992. Then, the IOC, in an attempt to increase its economic gains, reduced this time 'waiting from four years to two years, having two years between the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.

The argument which therefore consists in saying that increasing the waiting time […] in order to increase operating revenues, media coverage, overall revenues, seems to me once again quite fragile. Rather, history would show that it is by reducing the waiting time from four to two years that we hope to increase revenues and economic revenues.

Gianni Infantino announced his intention to mobilize $ 1 billion (through funding organizations and patrons) so that each of the 54 African countries has at least one stadium with international standards and / or a technical center excellence. Can we really have so much infrastructure built on the continent with a billion dollars?

[…] This proposal of a billion to have at least one large stadium built in so many countries seems pretty light to me. I don't think the president of FIFA wants to build 54 stadiums, with a billion. If we take the costs in force, at least in Western countries, for a stadium with international standards, it takes between 100 and 500 million euros per enclosure. And I'm not even talking about the billion used for the stadium of the English club Tottenham!

Even a low cost stadium with international standards, it costs 100, 200 or 300 million euros. One billion would be just enough to build ten stadiums. […] So it will be necessary to find sources of funding elsewhere, perhaps private, to build in the forty other African countries.

Displaying such a large sum while associating it with such a promise […] seems extremely fragile to me. […] Or else, it would be considered that, with African wages being so low and African workers so poorly paid, we could build football stadiums in Africa at 10, 15 or 20 million dollars.

Mohamed El Sherei is the former Financial Director of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). He was dismissed in July 2019 for "serious misconduct". Since then, the Egyptian continues to ensure that his ex-employer is adrift, especially from a budgetary point of view. "If the CAN takes place every four years, the CAF which is already destroyed will be a corpse," he said. Can CAF support its expenses as it is with a CAN every four years? From my point of view, it is impossible. Unless Gianni Infatino guarantees putting CAF the billion dollars he talked about for the development of African football. Finally, he sounds the alarm, ensuring that the institution's real financial reserves actually amount to $ 50 or $ 55 million. The other half of CAF's money (around forty million dollars) comes from the development program funded by the International Federation, FIFA Forward.

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