Why The 2021 African Cup of Nations Is So Controversial 

How has Cameroon gone so under the radar being one of the most currupt countries with no ambition to change, this needs to be talked about more

I am a Cameroonian 🇨🇲and I am really impressed with the amount of research you did for this amazing video. You just painted a vivid picture on the sad reality my country faces. I just pray for better days for my people ❤️. Nice work👌🏽

As a Cameroonian ( and longtime fan of the channel) It was always a shame seeing so much corruption go on, and none of us being able to do anything because the world didn't care. Everyone here knows that everything here goes wrong, corruption is at every level of the government, and we are praying that one day it will stop

It's ridiculous the levels of corruption in football, yet people seem to think the Premier League and PGMOL are squeaky clean...

I'd love to see a video of how John Delaney ruined Irish football, and how he basically dropped all FAI funding of grassroots and what he called 'The Problem Child', League of Ireland football. His corruption would make Biya and other African dictators blush. He would be prosecuted in any other European country but he has connections within Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the two parties that have ruled Ireland since independence (very similar parties ideology-wise, crony capitalism). A video exposing this to the world would be amazing since it is what many European viewers attribute to dictatorships in the developing world but is really happening on their doorstep. Their have been some success stories in the LOI in spite of this corruption and mismanagement of the league (one example of mismanagement being a rumour that the FAI vetoed a Sky Sports TV deal that would've been very lucrative for the clubs in favour of RTE), like Shamrock Rovers' Europa League run in 2011, beating Partizan away to reach the group stages, and Stephen Kenny taking Dundalk from relegation (saved by Monaghan United folding) to narrowly missing out on the Europa League knockout stages in 2016/17. He is now, against all odds, Ireland manager and doing very well. The FAI has had a change of governance but some of Delaney's cronies are still there slowing down change. The LOI has been resilient and come through a dark patch even stronger although some scandals remain (proposed sale of Tolka Park, home of Shelbourne, for housing and having them move in with their arch rivals Bohemian FC in Dalymount). An international audience needs to hear about this.

Do a video on the Nigerian premier league, the away teams almost never win games. It’s always either an away loss or draw. And just the Nigerian football in general is a mess

As someone of Cameroonian origin you are absolutely 💯 spot on and I appreciate the research that went into this. Hopefully everything goes well but yes this shines a light on the problems we have. Thank you for the time taken to adequately do your research .

These kinds of videos is the reason I subscribe. In depth analysis of not only football, but the surrounding politics and reasons behind the happenings. We need this as most newspapers and agencies will not.

Terrific video. I had no idea Cameroon was as corrupt as this. French support for Biya certainly needs more attention from the international community x

Absolutely fantastic, I regret many things in life......however, subscribing to your channel is not one of them. The quality of information, the production values, everything is always spot on. I have been following for years and always enjoy your content Alfie.

Football is corrupt from head to toe everywhere. Every tournament you ever watched is corruption filled. The problem is the media just picks when to shine a light on it. same old same old💔

Through motorcycle vlogs of a dude through Africa I have learned a lot about corruption in this continent and especially the stranglehold by France on its ex colonies through holding the natural resources ransom. Cameroon is just one of many examples of this.

As a Nigerian boy My own is that y'all played euros We're gonna play afcon That's my own sha I don't care if Liverpool don't win the league Africans deserve our competition too

Football in Africa never changes , I worked in Kenya between 1991 and 1996 as Coach of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards along with a short stint in Uganda . I am still owed thousands of dollars even spent 5 days in jail in Nairobi for punching the Chairmen of Gor Mahia . The whole time there it was a battle with corrupt officials of club and of Kff . Very frustrating ,only good thing was my assistant Austin Odour Origi is the Uncle of Origi at Liverpool , I coached Origi father Mike Okoth for a couple of months when he returned from Belgium . Great memory's but frustration

very interesting video again alfie! My girlfriends dad is the official team doctor of the Cameroonian football team and she had given me a notion of how chaotic everything was there but i had no idea it was this bad.

Shout out to HITC Sevens for this video essay on the state of Cameroon. I see a lot of research went into it and I appreciated the parallels and acknowledgments of comparable western corruption. Football and corruption go hand in glove unfortunately. I don’t have any answers

I enjoyed how you actually mentioned Europe's oppression of Africa and no just Britain's. Tired of country's like France getting away with it while British people have this permanent marker of being racist oppressors.

Stumbled on HITC at the start of last year and I must say the quality of the videos have got better and better. The narrative style is informative and highly entertaining. 20+ min videos feel like 5/6 mins

Another phenomenal video Alfie, thank you so much for your hard work and research to produce these type of videos for us viewers!

This video is fantastic. As an outsider who lived in both the Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon and was there for the last election. You hit the nail on the head. You did your research and everything you have said is 100% correct.

Thank you for making this video. Amazing quality as always

It’s not that contraversial it’s just disrespected because of the time it is at it should be on the same level as the euros

In all honesty I am quite disgusted by the questions directed at African footballers from the media being like "uwu are you going to accept the call-up, wouldn't you secretly rather stay with your club?" as if Western clubs are more important than African countries. It's racist and it's disrespectful. Could you imagine Phil Foden being asked if he's going to accept his FIFA fucking World Cup call-up or if he would rather save his energy for the Premier League? It's a humongous double standard. The COVID concern trolling from the clubs is honestly even worse. They care about African players' health about as much as CAF does; they just don't want to lose them for weeks.

Love your analysis as always, Alfie! Thanks for all the hard work you do! Love from America

This is just sad. I can’t believe a RU-vid footie channel has done a better job highlighting this atrocity - and France’s involvement - than international news outlets.

Brilliant video Alfie. That Eddie Howe moment cracks me up every time.

I’ve only really heard talk about afcon in terms on its impact on the premier league (maybe ignorantly.) so thanks for showing more about it.

European football media NEVER report on African football unless it's something negative. There have been very successful tournaments over the years, with stellar performances from African playing in the biggest leagues in Europe......utter silence when that happens. But once there's a scandal or something negative, all of Europe decides to report on it.

Damn the Togo ban seems otherworldly.

I am cameroonian and i appreciate you speaking out about the corupptnes of cameroon. Hopefully something can change, even tho it doesn't look like it

The research for this video was out of this world 🙌, without a single doubt one of the best videos about Cameroon from a foreign channel. Great Job Mate👍🏾

This documentary is a masterpiece ! Thank you for being a RU-vidr

Happy New Year mate. Thanks for posting a video today. Corona got me and i have nothing else to do than watch your videos.

Great vid Alfie. Although you missed out the 'official' reason Cameroon couldn't host the 2019(?) tournament. CAF upped the team count up to 24 a year after the bid and Cameroon said they wouldn't have enough stadiums to host an expanded tournament

This is really well done!! Thank you for compiling it

Thank you for this Alfie. Thank you so much.

The fact you managed to do all this research and put this video together while not sat in a hotel in Switzerland really amazes me

I'm actually for the ACON being played mid-season. The players are sharper, and they aren't being burned out as much by playing extra football when they normally would be resting. I think this will become a bigger talking point as time goes on, more african player will reach the top level as footballing infrastructure grows in africa. As its exposure grows and more people start watching the tournament, it will shine a bigger light on the true contrroversy that you've highlighted in this vid, that so many nations in africa suffer from shocking amounts of corruption at the government level.

Great video as always. Well researched and presented. Your cadence and delivery were much more even in this one. Well done.

Great vid kept me thoroughly entertained throughout

Angriest XI in the world (Zaha, Pepe etc)

It's controversial every time, needs to take place out of the season like the World Cup, Euro's, Copa America. That's before the typical corruption that besieges international football.

Thank you for shedding the light on this. I'm from Cameroon and I approve this message

Another fantastic CAF video. Hope that Best XI from sub-Saharan African clubs is coming out soon-the Cup of Nations is a great opportunity to start cranking out more CAF stuff!

Great video as ever Alfie. Another thing about African countries and colonialism is that the modern day African countries’ borders don’t actually make any sense, because historically Africa has tended to have regions run by tribes, often different and hostile to one another. It wasn’t until the British, French etc rocked up and decided that ‘this land is now Cameroon, Nigeria, etc’ - introducing the hitherto alien concept of nation states to Africa - that these disparate tribes were suddenly part of the same political jurisdiction. It’s one reason why a lot of African countries have had civil war and why a lot of these countries struggle to function coherently.

Brilliant stuff. A great look at both football and African politics. My favourite!

Thank you Alfie this is really well done!

Hey Alfie.. I am a Cameroonian and have been following your channel since 25Ksubs, This is a phenomenal Video , your research level is sooo Underrated and so is your channel ..

This Tournament playes in January because Most african Leagues are closed till February.

Damn and I thought Conmebol and the scheduling of Copa América was insane

I was gone for a while. I return to happily find this is still by far the best football channel on RU-vid, potentially on the internet as a whole.

This video made me put into perspective what my friend's dad who had been working on Cameroun for many years may have been doing there, and how they could live in a huge house near Nice in the Côte d'Azur. Thank you for this end-of-innocence moment and for breaking the huge assumptions i had on Cameroun

Could you do a video on the strongest African leagues, talking about them all in a video?

Would like to see a video of which of the African teams if any will reach quarters or semis or has the best chance. Senegal, Nigeria and Algeria all have a chance of doing well I feel should they reach it

Alfie, you Sir are a treasure. Your vids like this on Cameroon and others like it, use football as a lead in for some heavy geopolitical information. the way you frame it all up is quite remarkable. if HITC doesn't work out then I have to you have a huge future in documentary production. I must point out that they were 0 opportunities to hit the shot glass as there was no mention of Hull City Tigers. Eddie Howe well done Sir !

Your “Wide World of Football Corruption” series is terrific!

Alfie omitted the part of Europeans clubs refusing to release African players

Got a video idea for you. Best position for different countries. So for example left back for Scotland (Tierney, Hickey, Robertson) or Goalkeeper for Switzerland (Sommer, Bürki, Kobel, Hitz).

The research that this man puts into his videos is commendable🙌. I enjoy your excellent work, keep it up!

Yet again amazing work Alfie 👏

The general European football fan and surface level fan hates the AFCON cuz it happens in the middle of their season which could hurt some teams with less depth and more reliant on African players. On a deeper level there's just a bunch of bureaucratic corrupt BS as usual with anything football governing body related

When you see some of the 'modest' homes lots of these African officials live inside, it is very cough very cough, difficult to see where all of the cough funds have went to...

OMG the fact you managed to have so much information about my country is fascinating. Good job

Everything you said especially about Cameroon is on point, couldn't agree more

Danny Jordaan is killing South African football, and our federation is corrupt and we dont produce players and even at our local teams . we need serious help in our football. South African Spectators are blind, we didnt even qualify for CAF and even for the World Cup play-offs. Our players are getting a lot of money but not produce in the field.

My father is Zimbabwean. Probably 3 or 4 of our best starting XI will actually go to the tournament (either because of injuries or the retirement of Billiat). That's if we don't get banned for government interference before then, which seems highly likely

Excellent analysis and breakdown for someone who knows little about this!

Very comprehensive video on my corrupt country Cameroon. Thanks for highlighting the anglophone crisis.

The African Cup Of Nations is one of my favourite tournaments ever despite knowing these controversies which you have stated,good friend Alfie!!!Maybe,the tournament could have been postponed to at least next month when the situations over there would be resolved but I am eagerly expecting it to go ahead for the respective good people and viewers and not to forget the respective national teams that would compete,good friend!!!I wish all of the respective national teams all the very best in this extremely so fantastic tournament and long live to all of them,good friend!!!

Ever since I first came across the tournament in 2006, I've always wondered why its not every four odd years.

Great video, amazingly detailed work! Keep it up ;)

I know a man who went to vote in Australia's behalf for winning the 2018 world cup hosting. He said he needed 5 votes to advance to the second round of voting. He received one. Later that night, 5 different people called him saying they voted for him.

Alfie still with the great content👍

8 people on a motorbike and only Dad has a helmet. Road safety seems to be hugely important.

HITCSevens, please do a video about the best XI in the Premier League since 1992 in each position e.g Schmeichel, Cech in goal, Neville, Azpilicueta, Walker at right back. It would be brilliant.

I'm from Cameroon and appreciate the amount of work u put in making your videos but actually not all is true

I am holding my breadth that there will be no casualties from this Afcon gig,there is whispers that the Ambazonian Rebels are planning something to make headlines during the gig,we can only hope we won't have to witness candle vigils.CAF should have moved this Gig from Cameroon to South Africa,safety is important.

I knew this video was coming. The hate for Africa will never end and yet all 6 continent are looting its rich resources

I Appreciate this Sir

Another interesting video Alfie 👍

Hello Alfie, happy new year are Hull City going to get new owners? Danilo Iervolino is the new owner of Salernitana and the club are now set to stay in Serie A. You should do a documentary on them with the news story about them in the last few days. And a AFC Wimbledon documentary on their Nine promotions to be in league one would be good pls. I expect the African cup of nation AFCON to go on now. Thanks 😊

Why do I feel like Samuel Eto is gonna end up pulling a Weah

Brilliant piece of investigation and explanation.

Happy new year Alfie!

Africa is always targeted with corruption but the Euros, world cup and English football is seen as clean. Shocking

Here's the thing afcon has been played Jan/Feb for a majority of time its been played, it shouldn't come as a surprise they should know its happening and they should know if they have too africam talent in their teams they will b unavailable during this time. If they don't like this don't sign African players, pretty simple really!!!

Super video, you have a real talent for storytelling

Who watches this after the AFCON game, which was ended 3 times?

Welcome to Africa, corruption is normal life here

😂😂😂 I forgot this was a video about the African cup of Nations

Thank you for putting this together! I'm tied of the corruption in Cameroon.

I think this channel should talk about all the things going on right now during the tournament. Like the fields. Referee whistling early. Cameroon changing rules before their games to get advantage. Fans running to the fields. And other things. Like etoo saying this cup will stay here in Cameroon no matter what.

Another video title suggestion: Why is the African Cup of Nations so disrespected?

And European football is not corrupt? Give me a break

That was a superb documentary - deserves a wider audience

How the MLS work ? Can you explain it in a video? How the new expansions will effect the match games ?

Qatar 2022: Hold my beer

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 254) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

Excellent video!

Fantastic Alfie 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾