Inside the spanking new Chinese-built Tamale Sports stadium stood rows of empty seats. Outside, hundreds of fans who wanted to buy tickets but could not find any for sale.
Already hit by power cuts, blatant overpricing by hotel owners and communications glitches (see Mark Gleeson’s piece earlier this week), the African Nations Cup was struck by a ticketing fiasco for the opening matches played in the northern centre of Tamale.
The double bill, which featured Senegal-Tunisia and South Africa-Angola, was played out in a stadium little more than half full, despite this being almost certainly the biggest international event to be staged in the town. Local sources blamed tournament organisers in Accra for not sending the tickets north to Tamale in time.
Now the tournament is having to deal with more trouble, after Benin’s German coach Reinhard Fabisch said he had been asked to fix the result of his side’s opening Group B match, which they lost 1-0 to Mali.
Fabisch said he turned the man away — “I told him if he didn’t clear out immediately I’d call the police,” the coach said to German media — and the Confederation of African Football said on Friday it had launched an investigation into the matter.
It’s a shame about the off-field problems because the football so far has been great, with a series of upsets, spectacular goals and lots of late drama. Long may that continue, at least.
Brian Homewood is covering the African Nations Cup for Reuters. Check out our main soccer site for full coverage.
PHOTO: Issam Jomaa of Tunisia celebrates his goal against Senegal during their African Nations Cup Group A soccer match in Tamale January 23, 2008. REUTERS/Finbarr O’Reilly
SLIDESHOW: See here for the best photos from the tournament.
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4 comments so far
Well, I reckon there is no international tournament without ticketing problems/scandals. As for bribery, take a quick look back to Italy…
- Posted by julienAnyway, as Mark Gleeson would say: “Just another day in Africa”
Why do nearly all African Nations football managers seem to be stuck in a 1980’s Peter Stringfellow style time warp ?
1.Sunburnt fair skin,CHECK.
- Posted by Cy Nical2.Floppy centre-parting fringe long at the back,CHECK.
3.White short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned to chest-CHECK.
4.Chinos-CHECK.
5.Slip on loafers-CHECK.
Because most of them are German?
- Posted by LondonPar for the course for a big tournament, as Julian says. You even saw a bunch of stories about Germany along these lines in the build-up to the world cup.
- Posted by davex