At the end of his visit last week to Yaoundé, Ahmad Ahmad, the president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) reassured the authorities that the 2021 African Cup of Nations will indeed take place in Cameroon. Unlike the previous edition which was staged from June to July 2019 in Egypt, the tournament in Cameroon will be held in January.

However, the issue of hosting the games is not what is troubling senior officials of the Biya regime but rather the venue where the final of this competition will take place.

Information filtered to Cameroon Concord News that, Ahmad Ahmad was very mindful of the delay in construction work at the Olembe stadium in Yaoundé and indicated that the final will be moved to Douala where the stadium built by the Turkish Yenigun is already completed.

Biya reportedly told Ahmad Ahmad that the proximity of the economic capital to the Southern Cameroons region headquartered in Buea makes it completely impossible for him to be at the final. Apart from security reasons, Paul Biya informed Ahmad Ahmad that he will not be participating in the final in Douala, a city noted for being hostile towards his government and it is serving as the capital of the Cameroonian opposition.

By Rita Akana