How CHAN 2020 passes its Covid test before CAN 2021
Cameroonian supporters, wearing masks, line up to enter the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaoundé.
January 16, 2021 © Pierre René-Worms / RFI
Text by: Ndiasse Sambe Follow
4 min
The first international football tournament organized since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, CHAN is very much observed in CAF's capacity to face the health crisis.
But can the measures that seem effective today still be relevant in a year with the CAN?
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From our special envoy to Cameroon,
End of the DR Congo-Congo-Brazzaville match (1-0).
The coach of the victorious Leopards, Florent Ibenge, answers questions from journalists in the interview area.
He speaks, his mask is coming down and releases his nose, then his mouth.
The mask is immediately reassembled by the supervisor of the African Football Confederation (CAF).
As with a previous Congolese player, the CAF manager is obliged to do it twice to enforce the (proper) wearing of this protection within the stadium.
Sentence lost, four days after the Leopards coach
tested positive for Covid-19
.
The African Confederation applies its strict regulations, Ibenge is isolated and will not be on the bench against Libya for the second day of CHAN.
CAF knows that it is observed by the world.
She has sufficiently recalled that it was the first Confederation to organize a football tournament open to the public since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pressure to do well and especially that this competition does not lead to a health fiasco is very present.
In the streets of Douala, wearing a mask is not compulsory.
© Pierre René-Worns / RFI
Beyond the health protocol put in place by the Cameroonian State upon entering the territory (negative PCR test to be presented as well as an antigenic test to be done when leaving the plane), CAF has set up major health measures.
Officials, players, and journalists must perform a PCR test every 72 hours.
At the entrance to the stadiums, it is compulsory to wear a mask, distance between the seats, distribution of hydro-alcoholic gel, temperature measurement, etc.
"
It must be recognized that the measures taken for this competition are more reassuring than what is happening in the streets and markets, where the wearing of a mask is not generalized
, even admits the Cameroonian Minister of Sports, Narcisse Mouellé.
For CHAN, we are at a higher level than what can be observed in the behavior of citizens
”.
"
It's the Covid that controls us ...
"
In the streets of Yaoundé and Douala, in fact, the mask is very optional.
“
We take more risks in the street because the mask is not compulsory.
At the stadium, I think we are even more secure,
”admitted a supporter of the Indomitable Lions.
Where will we be in a year with the epidemic?
Can social management be in line with CAN 2021, a competition of another scale?
At CHAN 2020, few foreign supporters made the trip.
We will have to wait for a large contingent in a year with a tournament that will be played with 24 teams.
The issue of professional players, most of whom operate in Europe, a continent severely affected by the pandemic, must also be taken into account, such as the arrival of many nationalities from all over the planet.
Will CHAN 2020 be an effective test to meet the challenges of CAN 2021?
Anthony Baffoe, CAF Deputy Secretary General, responsible for football and development, is careful not to be affirmative.
“
We do not control the Covid, it is the Covid that controls us.
After CHAN, there will be inter-club competitions that will also have to be managed.
We meet every day to find the best way to protect ourselves
.
"
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CHAN 2020
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