Morocco to host Chan 2018

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Acting Sports Editor
THE Confederation of African Football Emergency committee has awarded the hosting of the 2018 Total African Nations Championship (Chan) to Morocco following the withdrawal of Kenya.

In a statement released yesterday, Caf said the tournament would be held from January 12 to February 4. Morocco’s candidacy was preferred over Equatorial Guinea while Ethiopia was not considered because its bid did not have the requisite Government guarantee.

“The Emergency Committee of Caf chaired by Ahmad (Caf president) met on October 14 in Lagos, Nigeria and unanimously decided to grant the organisation of the 5th edition of the Total African Nations Championship to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.

“The latter had been a candidate  following the withdrawal of the organisation of this competition to Kenya, which was decided on September 23, 2017 in Accra, Ghana by the Caf executive committee which, in accordance with the statutes and deadlines, had the same day allowed the Emergency Committee to conduct the bidding process to select a new host country,” said Caf in its statement released yesterday.

The Chan tournament is exclusively for players playing in the national championships of their respective countries.

For the first time since the start of the tournament, Zimbabwe won’t be part of the proceedings after being knocked out, albeit in controversial circumstances, by Namibia who progressed 5-4 after penalty shootouts after the two legged qualifiers ended 1-1 on aggregate.

The shootouts were however marred by controversy after one of the Namibians’ spot kick was said to have been illegal and it led to the Swaziland officials being suspended for dereliction of duty. Zifa immediately launched an appeal with Caf but nothing has materialised of the appeal to date although the national association is still hopeful.

Zimbabwe were made to go through the anguish of qualifiers after poor showings in the last tournament in Rwanda but had gone into the race as favourites having been fresh from a victorious Cosafa tournament in South Africa.

It was however, not to be as the Namibians held their own in Windhoek, stunning the Warriors 1-0 while  a Prince Dube wonder goal at the National Sports Stadium in the reverse leg forced the encounter to go to the shootouts.