CAIRO: Top African football officials hope the history-making Cup of Nations in Egypt from June 21 can deflect attention away from a string of embarrassing incidents involving them. In recent weeks, CAF president Ahmad Ahmad and senior vice-president Amaju Pinnick and VAR have been dominating the headline space usually reserved for stars like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. Former CAF secretary general Amr Fahmy from Egypt was sacked recently after making various serious accusations against Ahmad. Were the finals staged anywhere except Egypt, Morocco would probably be favourites to succeed again 43 years after their lone success. Among the second seeds, Ghana, Algeria and the Ivory Coast could go far while the Democratic Republic of Congo and third seeds South Africa are highly unpredictable.

Source: Pakistan Today June 12, 2019 12:11 UTC