The 21^st January 2012 marks the start of the 28^th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biggest event in the African football calendar. Hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, the tournament will feature 16 nations from across the continent, all competing for a place in the final to be held on 12^th February in the purpose-built Stade d'Angondjé in Gabon.

It is a celebration of African football which goes back as far as 1957, but in more recent times it has become a source of frustration for European coaches who complain about the timing of the event and the loss of their African players over vital periods of the season. FIFA president Sepp Blatter regularly finds himself embroiled in the debate, and has in the past suggested that the event be brought in line with European competition in order to reflect the increasing numbers of African players competing in European leagues.

In light of the negative press it can become easy to forget the significance of the tournament and what it means for millions of people across Africa. And whilst it is fair to say that excitement in the build up to the competition is usually scarce as far as Europe is concerned, it is a mistake made to Europe’s own loss, and one which I’m sure the students at our many African centres won’t be replicating!

There have been many talking points in the build up to the competition, ranging from the surprising to the downright bizarre! Qualification, for instance, saw some of Africa’s biggest and most successful nations including Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and 7 times champions and holders Egypt, fall short. The South African failure was a talking point in itself, with the Bafana Bafana mistakenly believing that they had qualified before celebrations had to be cut short when they were informed that they had misunderstood the rules!

There were crazy happenings on a more bureaucratic level as well, with both Togo and Nigeria having bans overturned. Togo were initially banned, amazingly, from 2012 and 2013 tournaments after they withdrew from the 2010 competition following a tragic attack on their team bus. Nigeria, meanwhile, were quite amusingly banned from all international competition for two years by their own President following a disappointing 2010 World Cup! In the end, both nations were able to compete but failed to qualify for the tournament.

If qualification is anything to go by, the main event should provide much to look forward to! In 2010 South Africa proved the ability of African nations to stage successful sporting events when they did a brilliant job as hosts of the World Cup, but aside from looking forward to what Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have to offer, there are also an array of star players on show including Yaya and Kolo Toure, Didier Drogba, Asamoah Gyan, Andre Ayew, Demba Ba, Gervinho, Sulley Muntari, Salomon Kalou, Seydou Keita and many, many more!

It promises to be a terrific event, and one which you won’t want to miss! Is your country playing? If not who will you support?

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