The Big Interview – Afcon Co-hosts

Mr Louis Claude Moundzieoud Koumba, Head of Communications &
Marketing, Organising Committee (CoCan) of Africa Cup of Nations Gabon,
speaks to Sport Industry Group about what it means for the country to be
co-hosting the Africa Cup of Nations 2012, which kicks off in Gabon and
Equatorial Guinea later this month.

What are the challenges of co-hosting a competition?

Gabon
and Equatorial Guinea work very closely together. For example, we have
daily meetings between the two Organising Committees to harmonise our
strategies on ticket prices, transport, mascot usage, etc and ensure
everything works together. It is a supportive collaboration between two
countries and two committees to meet Confederation of African Football
(CAF) deadlines.

How difficult is it to host an event like this in Gabon, compared to a more developed market such as South Africa or Egypt?

There
are many restrictions imposed by the specifications of the CAF when
organising the Africa Cup of Nations. The CAF protects its sponsors,
which makes marketing on a local level very difficult as companies can’t
support the CoCan specifically. 

As Gabon is a mining and oil
country, it’s been difficult to position us as a great country for a
football tournament, but we have achieved many of our objectives
to-date.

?What are the
challenges of holding the competition in the middle of the European
season? Do you think the calendar needs standardising?

Organising
the AFCON has been a great challenge and one that we have really
enjoyed. It is an opportunity for Gabon to develop our infrastructure
and build new hotels and roads for the tournament. It has also given
Gabon an opportunity to build a modern new stadium with 40,000 seats.  

The
dates of the AFCON have been known for a decade and European clubs know
that they have to release African players to take part in the
tournament. That makes it challenging, but clubs are more prepared these
days. Each confederation is also free to organise its own specificities
with releasing players.  

How involved is Orange as a title sponsor? What do they do other than offer financial support?

Orange
is a CAF sponsor, so each CoCan receives 10% of beneficiaries from that
sponsorship.  It brings no direct financial support to Gabon.

Has
it been difficult to promote the competition with the absence of big
names such as South Africa, Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria?

We
have not found it difficult at all to promote the tournament with the
absence of these countries. The Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria teams are at
the end of a cycle of great players, so we don’t see their absence as
an obstacle for the quality of the competition.

There are some
surprises in the field, like Botswana and Niger, but also those you
would expect like Ghana and Senegal – it’s the magic of football like
Greece in 2004, or Denmark in 1992.  The line-up is proof that African
football is moving forward across the continent.