Perhaps the main reason why the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was determined that come what may, the new African Cup of Nations (AFCON) must be played was due to the calendar which has been rescheduled to begin next year even in the face of the deadly "Ebola" menace.
Morocco might have had her legitimate right to choose between doing away with the dangers of the disease and the stance adopted by CAF and her President, Issah Hayatou.
Many other African countries were scared of the Ebola menace and rejected the offer to host the tournament after Morocco had turned the right to hosting the competition down.
I believe also that Morocco would definitely have a close contact with the new hosts and they would advise them to work hard to cope with countries suspected to be endangered with the disease, and possibly advertise worldwide on how strict they would deal with visitors with the least of suspicion of the deadly menace.
Our brothers and sisters in Equatorial Guinea will need to be very alert in that direction, as they might not like to create panic during and after the tournament.
It is significant to note that at the last balloting in Equatorial Guinea, the Black Stars found themselves in the same group with Senegal, Algeria and South Africa compelling football analysts to refer to the group as the “Group of Death”.
In recent times there have been real cases of shifting of powers with respect to football on the African continent with countries such as Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Mali, Equatorial Guinea and others showing their potential to surprise Africa and the world and it is on that note that we must be very careful not to disregard any African nation.
Remember that before the Black Stars won their fourth victory over Africa in 1982, their closest rivals were Egypt, who had two previous glories in 1957 and 1959, when the competition was in its inaugural stages and that put the Black Stars in a special light, making them one of the most feared football nations on the whole continent. But then the worst of all the mishaps experienced in the Black Stars were their inability to host and win the 2008 event at home and also their inability to stop Egypt from winning the ultimate in Angola and especially the poor show in the Equatorial Guinea and Gabon finals in 2012 when Zambia taught them a soccer lesson in the semi-finals. That was a wake-up call but did not end there as Burkina Faso from nowhere surprisingly beat them 3 - 2 on penalties after which they were beaten again by Mali during the third position match in South Africa in 2013.
Is it not gratifying that the countries that qualified for the coming tournament are all in the bracket of modern football with a lot of their players playing professional football abroad? Apart from everything, there is that strong hope that Tunisia, Cameroun, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Gabon and Senegal will make the tournament most memorable. The question of who is who must finally be settled on the field, but let's hope the best team emerge as champions.
