{"id":11640,"date":"2022-01-08T14:24:22","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T14:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows"},"modified":"2022-01-08T14:29:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T14:29:10","slug":"cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows","title":{"rendered":"Cameroonians ready for football fun… if Covid allows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>Workers are applying final touches to the fan zones in Yaounde ahead of the long-awaited launch of Africa\u2019s biggest sporting event this weekend.<\/p>\n

Beset by months of problems and uncertainty, the month-long Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) gets under way on Sunday when host nation Cameroon play Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n

Preparations to get the giant screens, shops, restaurants and fan space ready for thousands of supporters in the nation\u2019s capital are definitely in last-minute mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Cameroonians love to leave everything to the last gasp,\u201d laughs Simon Atangana, a former national player who is part of an organisation setting up the fan zones.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything will, of course, be ready. Afcon is going to be a huge party, and the pictures will be spread around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a familiar foe \u2014 coronavirus \u2014 is a potential fly in the ointment.<\/p>\n

The global pandemic forced the postponement of Afcon from last year, and fears of another delay were eased only last month.<\/p>\n

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has set down tough rules in a bid to prevent Afcon becoming a super-spreader event.<\/p>\n

Those wanting to enter the stadium must be completely vaccinated \u2014 in a country where just six percent of the adult population has been jabbed \u2014 and show a negative PCR test for the virus that is less than 72 hours old.<\/p>\n

Venues have been limited to 60 percent of capacity, although this is being raised to 80 percent when Cameroon\u2019s \u201cIndomitable Lions\u201d take the field. The rampant spread of the Omicron variant is casting a pall over team lineups.<\/p>\n

Gabon\u2019s Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the latest player to test positive and may miss his country\u2019s Group C open match against Comoros on January 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe asked Caf whether we can replace some of our players who got infected with Covid-19 but the answer is no,\u201d said The Gambia\u2019s coach, Tom Saintfiet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this still remains to be the case, it could be a catastrophe… but according to the current rules, we are not allowed to replace anybody in the final list of 28-men squad.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Yaounde\u2019s Warda Square, hawkers of flags, shirts and vuvuzela horns say they have had a slow start in trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness hasn\u2019t taken off yet as much as I would like, but I\u2019m optimistic,\u201d said Arnaud Medja, 29, dressed from head to toe in Cameroon\u2019s national colours of green, yellow and red.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just taking more time than scheduled. It\u2019s just the Covid rules which have come along and put a dampener on things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cup and the tournament\u2019s lion mascot Mola have been going around the streets of Yaounde, backed by dancers and musicians and escorted by motorbike riders bedecked with the flags of all the competing nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfcon is going to be fun \u2014 a party,\u201d said Laurentine, a 33-year-old cosmetics saleswoman.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be great to see the town move and watch everyone get out again.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, dozens of people lined up outside ticket outlets after Afcon said seats were being put on sale, although they waited in vain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent all day yesterday queuing. I went to the city hall, to the Ahidjo stadium, and now it\u2019s the Palais des Sports,\u201d said Karine Sunshine, 23. \u201cBut there\u2019s still nothing on sale. I am desperate to see the opening match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting 50 years for this moment \u2014 that was the last time Afcon was staged in Cameroon. So I got my vaccinations, and now I am waiting a bit longer, because the Cameroonians are going to win the cup. Just look at the atmosphere there\u2019s going to be this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not everyone seemed to be aware of the tournament\u2019s anti-Covid restrictions \u2014 or even to be particularly worried about the virus. In Yaounde\u2019s central market, hundreds of people, none of them masked, thronged the stalls as Cameroonian and international music blasted from loudspeakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, of course, I will be going to the stadium,\u201d said Abdoulay, a water seller. \u201cYou have to get vaccinated (to get in)? Oh, in that case, I won\u2019t go. There\u2019s no corona in Cameroon, and we don\u2019t want the vaccine here. You don\u2019t know what it contains and vaccinated people catch the disease anyway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. Workers are applying final touches to the fan zones in Yaounde ahead of the long-awaited launch of Africa\u2019s biggest sporting event this weekend. Beset by months of problems and uncertainty, the month-long Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) gets under way on Sunday when host nation Cameroon play Burkina Faso. Preparations to get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17,16],"tags":[233,281,283],"class_list":["post-11640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mozambique","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\nCameroonians ready for football fun... if Covid allows - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Workers are applying final touches to the fan zones in Yaounde ahead of the long-awaited launch of Africa\u2019s biggest spor ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cameroonians ready for football fun... if Covid allows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Workers are applying final touches to the fan zones in Yaounde ahead of the long-awaited launch of Africa\u2019s biggest spor ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-08T14:24:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-08T14:29:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/01\/img-61d99f92d28a1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Cameroonians ready for football fun… if Covid allows\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-08T14:24:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-08T14:29:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows\"},\"wordCount\":735,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/01\/img-61d99f92d28a1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mozambique\",\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/cameroonians-ready-for-football-fun-if-covid-allows\",\"name\":\"Cameroonians ready for football fun... if Covid allows - 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