Infantino, Motsepe term Chan 2024 a success

Fifa President Gianni Infantino and his Confederation of African Football (CAF) counterpart Patrice Motsepe have lauded the East African countries for successfully co-hosting the African Nations Championship (Chan) 2024 tournament.

Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have attracted eyeballs from fans worldwide, with even their national teams also performing beyond expectations.

Harambee Stars, Uganda Cranes, and Taifa Stars defied all odds in their respective groups, beating bigwigs, but all fell short at the quarter-final stage. 

Motsepe, speaking during a press conference at Villa Rosa Kempinski, Nairobi, after chairing CAF's Executive Committee meeting, hailed President William Ruto for his big role in upgrading the facilities that made the 2024 edition the most successful tournament in its 15-year history. 

"I want to thank President William Ruto for the great cooperation. Thank you to the people, for this has been undoubtedly the best CHAN tournament in history since its inception," said Motsepe.

Motsepe also acknowledged the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and their Tanzanian and Ugandan counterparts for managing to work together and realise the common goal of uniting East Africa through football. 

With African football on the rise, Motsepe revealed CAF was working hard to build a partnership with more corporates to inject more financing into federations to improve the state of football in the continent. 

"We are engaging with corporates on a billion-dollar plan over eight years to increase the funding available for African football. A lot of that will go into youth competitions and investment in academies to encourage young boys to participate in high-level competitions," Motsepe explained. 

Infantino, delighted to be in the country and the region, was grateful and thankful to football faithful, who have showed up in large numbers, filling up stadia, especially when the host nations played. 

"Football is always important for all young girls and boys. For me, it is really a great joy to be here. We all love football, and it is great to be united," Infantino said. 

Now in his second term, Infantino spoke of the massive investment the football governing body was making in efforts to improve the state of African football. Part of the effort includes the increase of the number of African nations participating in the upcoming 2026 Fifa World Cup. 

"It is right to invest in the game. We as Fifa are investing in youth academies and revenues. These end up being represented in big tournaments like the World Cup, which we now have doubled the number of African teams participating," said Infantino.

Fans, especially in Kasarani Stadium, have turned up in droves to support teams, even when the national teams weren't playing. 

Nyayo Stadium witnessed more than 20,000 fans turn up for games in Group A. While some stadiums were almost empty, especially in Zanzibar, Motsepe was quick to quash claims that the tournament in general witnessed low turnouts. 

"Empty is a bit excessive when it comes to describing the turnout. When home teams have played, the host nations' fans have come out, and we have seen this," he said. 

The Chan 2024 was meant to be a dress rehearsal for the 2027 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) to be co-hosted by the three East African countries.