With Egypt hosting an important match for the World Cup Qualifiers 2022 with its counterpart Senegal on March 25th, MEO, is glad to review with its readers the history of Egypt in hosting football tournaments like AFCON. MEO also had the pleasure to chit chat with Mr. Adel Koraiem CAF media officer about AFCON tournaments 2019 and 2022.
There is no doubt that football is one of the most popular sports around the world; in fact, the global football market size was valued at $ 1,883.6 million in 2019. According to the global football market analysis, it is estimated to reach $ 3,712.7 million by 2027. The global market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 18.3% from 2021 to 2027.
Actually, the increase in football events on the global and national levels are influencing many aspects and this influence promotes the continuous growth of the global football market; this is why manufacturers in the football industry and countries that are hosting football tournaments are keen to increase quality and features of their products delivered.
Egypt with its exceptional history in hosting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), is considered one of the most attractive hosting spots for football tournaments. History tells us that Egypt succeeded in hosting the African Cup of Nations, in 1957, 1974, 1986, 2006 and 2019.
In 2019, great efforts were exerted to invest in the success of the AFCON tournament. Mr. Koraiem explains that Egypt actually enjoys all the elements that are needed for the success of any football tournament held on its land. First, it has exceptional infrastructure to hold tournaments and championships, Second it enjoys perfect venues for holding the matches, as well as venues for the needed trainings before the matches, third it has a great number of hotels for hosting the teams, the delegations and the match referees, Fourth it offers good transportation for the teams.
“I believed, Egypt did a great job in 2019, and for the note, it was an exceptional year as AFCON included 24 teams, not 16.”says Korayam.
AFCON 2019, was supposed to be held in Cameron, however some changes in plans happened and Egypt and South Africa competed to host the tournament. Egypt in fact had just five months to prepare for the expanded 24-team finals.
Ministries of youth and sports, tourism, foreign affairs, information, telecommunications, transportation and interior were all set to contribute to the success of AFCON 2019; they were keen to ensure that the participating teams, fans and media have nothing but praise for the organization. Even governors of the cities where the matches were played did join the work with the ministries and the organizers during the preparation phase. Games were played in six stadiums: Cairo Stadium, Al-Salam Stadium, Alexandria Stadium, Ismailia Stadium, Suez Stadium and Port Said Stadium in five cities: Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Port Said and Suez. All stadiums underwent renovations prior to AFCON 2019.
On the other, if we came to examine the experience of hosting AFCON 2022 in Cameron, we will find it a distinct experience. According to several sports and media experts, Cameron made the best use of its resources and venues available, to make AFCON 2022 appear as it did.
According to the chief economist at the African Business Information Bank, Kennedy Tumemnta, some businesses were already breaking even. He said the economic spinoffs from AFCON were regarded as positive. As well, many hotels and local trading premises witnessed significant renovation work to broaden the customer base and increase profits.
However, some concerns were already, present even before the beginning of the tournament related to a certain state of insecurity in parts of the country like Limbe, as well as, there were concerns about the readiness of stadiums and the availability of hotels and the training facilities that teams need inside the hotels, like well-equipped sauna and steam and meeting rooms. As well, logistics were a bit difficult, as the games were held in 5 cities that are not close to one another, and transportation was by planes not buses, and this did create a state of exhaustion for the players. Furthermore, there were an insufficient number of stadiums for training; so, there were overlaps between various teams in training times.
“Because Egypt did an exceptional job in hosting AFCON 2019; it was really a hard job for an African country to reach such a success; there will be an automatic comparison with AFCON 2019. I remember that many journalists that I met during the coverage of AFCON 2022, were remembering and making a comparison with Egypt’s performance in 2019; they believe that Egypt, especially nowadays, is so ready to host all kinds of sports’ tournaments.”
“I personally believe that Cameron did its best”. Says koraiem.
“ From the economic side, hosting football tournaments in any country, definitely has a positive impact on the economic side; whether due to the sponsors who pay money for sponsorships, or due to the audience who travel to the hosting country and use all the facilities and hotels, which definitely creates a state of an economic boom.” concludes Koraiem.
