Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire will set the ball rolling for the tournament in the opening game tomorrow.
The 2016 edition of the African Nations Championship will begin on Saturday January 16th with the host country Rwanda due to play the opening game against Côte d’Ivoire. The teams taking part in the competition which is reserved only for players in their respective national leagues are: Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Rwanda; Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mali, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The teams have been divided in four groups and will play respectively in Kigali, the capital, Huye, Rubavu and Butare.
Cameroon will be playing in group B alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Angola. The Lions played their last warm up match against Uganda on Wednesday in Kampala, a match which ended in a draw. Before then the Lions equally obtained a draw against Rwanda in a pre-tournament friendly match. The Lions have taken up residence at the Mater Boniconcilli hotel in Huye where the group B matches will be played and will face Angola in their first outing in the competition on Sunday January 17.
It is worthy to note that Angola eliminated Cameroon at the quarter final round of the competition in 2011. The ambition of the Lions will therefore be to perform better than the quarter final attained in their first and only participation in the tournament in 2011. Etienne Sockeng and the tentative coach of the Lions, Alexandre Belinga are also on prospection mission to Rwanda for the tournament.
Meanwhile, the host country Rwanda says they are ready for the start of the tournament. "We are fully ready to host this high-level competition," said Vincent Nzamwita, president of the Rwanda Football Federation, adding that it is "a great honour". The Rwandan government announced a visa exemption for nationals of competing countries in order to attract fans. Preparations for the event have been widely reported by the local press and Major renovations were carried out in Kigali, the capital, Huye and Rubavu where games will be played.
"Everything had to be rebuilt," said Nzamwita, including the pitches, changing rooms and stands. According to the New Times newspaper, the Rwandan government has spent 16 billion Rwandan francs ($21.4 million) on infrastructure and organisational costs for CHAN 2016, the fourth edition of the competition since 2009.
