Expanded Nations Cup will not 'reduce quality' of play
The Africa Cup of Nations will
not suffer in quality after its expansion to 24 teams, says a top
Confederation of African Football (Caf) official.
Amaju Pinnick believes the African game can only benefit, even if the tournament may suffer early on.
"At
the beginning, you will see some problems but later it will start
building up to the quality people know it for," the Nigerian told BBC
Sport.
"Trust me - it is not going to reduce the quality."
Last week, Caf chose to both expand the Nations Cup - by an additional eight teams - and move its timing from January/February to June/July.
Pinnick, who presides over Caf's Nations Cup Organising Committee,
believes African football will be 'redefined' as a result of the
changes, citing benefits with regard to business, infrastructure and the
sport itself.
He says African companies are excited about the
changes, that African players will become more prized and that more
countries will benefit from new and/or reconstructed stadiums.
Concerns
over the quality of football aside, there are also questions about how
many African countries have the capacity to actually stage a 24-team
Nations Cup.
The Caf executive committee member believes '10-12'
countries could host on their own right now, but he also introduced the
concept of 'regionalising.'
"We are trying to encourage
co-hosting and regionalising," said the Nigeria Football Federation
(NFF) president in a wide-ranging interview.
"If Nigeria and
Ghana were to put up a bid for example, I would also advocate that they
accommodate (neighbours) Togo and Benin. Nobody is pushing that for now
but I am just giving an example of the possibility."
NFF president Pinnick is in charge of Caf's Nations Cup organising committee |
Last week, the country denied reports it was behind schedule but Pinnick is not unduly concerned.
"Cameroon
is a major footballing nation and I believe they are going to be able
to do it," he said. "They are very eager and excited."
Firstly, the format for qualifying for the 2019 Nations Cup - which has already started - needs to be changed.
Caf
will meet in Morocco later this week to begin talks on how that process
will change, with the next qualifiers set for next March.
The switch of timing, meanwhile, has been broadly welcomed - with both African players and agents set to benefit given the Nations Cup will no longer clash with the middle of a European season.
"You
will now starting seeing big money for African players - massive
transfers because they are now in line with the footballer calendar,"
said Pinnick.
Nonetheless, any footballer in a team that
qualifies for Nations Cups either side of a World Cup could find himself
playing three extended seasons in a row.
"I don't think there is any major concern," argued Pinnick.
"I
called nine Nigeria internationals (to check) and they said it was not
an issue. I also asked my marketing agent who called some big African
names in the Premier League and they said the same thing."
The argument of adverse weather - whether being too host in the
North, too rainy in the West or too cold the Southern Africa - was
regularly used by the previous Caf regime, under Issa Hayatou, as a
reason to not move the timing.
Pinnick believes infrastructural improvements can help solve some of the issues.
"If you have a world-class pitch, you won't bother about rain because within minutes it will drain away," he said.
Pinnick,
who says many companies have backed the expansion, does not believe the
Nations Cup will increase in size again - with any potential increase
likely to feature over half the teams on the continent.
"Anything can happen but I want to believe that this is where it should end."
BBC
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