a political history of the African Cup of Nations

The news put into perspective every Saturday, thanks to the historian Fabrice d’Almeida.

The CAN starts today in Abidjan. It is an event that reflects the political history of the continent.

Firstly because at its beginnings, few countries could participate. Only four countries created the African Football Confederation in 1956 and were able to take part in the first tournament organized in 1957. Egypt won. They remain a formidable team throughout the history of the event. With the decolonization of Africa, the number of teams increased and a preliminary tournament was created.

From 1968, eight teams reached the finals, then 12 in 1992 and, finally, 16 from 1996 with the return of South Africa. The latter was not allowed to play after 1957 because it only wanted to field white players, while in the country football was more of a black sport compared to white rugby. In 1996, Mandela was there to greet the victory of his team, Bafana Bafana, with cap in hand.

Very quickly the dictatorships wanted to win the tournament, like Mobutu’s Zaire in 1974. And the continent fuels world football so much so that the tournament interests football fans far beyond Africa. In France, at the beginning, to follow the results, you needed the radio. But since the 1970s, French TV has been doing summaries. In the 1980s, there were even finals broadcast. So we can follow the great celebration of this sport so adored by Africans, and see how powerful the continent’s talent pool is.