Courtesy: www.cameroon-tribune.cm

by Elizabeth MOSIMA
[23/06/2004]

Some eight countries will participate in the African competition.

Away leg preliminaries of the FIFA World Futsal championship will take place from July 2 to 4, 2004. Organised by the African Football Confederation (CAF), the competition will bring together some eight Futsal nations on the continent. These include: Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Sudan, Mozambique and Cameroon. According to the fixtures, Cameroon will welcome Mozambique in Yaounde. Egypt will take on South Africa, Sudan will play against Morocco and Cape Verde will face Guinea Bissau. It will be an occasion for Futsal spectators in Africa and the world to watch young talented players show what they can do in the sport. Initially the competition was take place in Egypt from the June 16 to 22. CAF officials changed the format of the competition due to Egypt’s withdrawal from hosting the preliminary rounds of the tournament. Ahead of this great event, preparations don’t seem to have taken off seriously in the country. Barely two weeks to the match between Cameroon and Mozambique, the national team players are yet to begin camping.

According to the President of the Cameroon Futsal Federation, Michel Tchoya, some 25 players have been pre-selected for camping after which 12 will be selected for the competition. He said the problem is that the players have not been able to go to camp due to lack of assistance form the Cameroon football governing body, FECAFOOT. "We are still waiting for assistance from FECAFOOT to enable us prepare. FECAFOOT engaged the national Futsal team in the African championship and so it must take its. We are shocked by the silence of FECAFOOT," he said.

On his part, the Secretary General of Fecafoot, Jean René Atangana Mbala, said that it is the Ministry of youth and Sports that has to take care of the national team’s training . He said that FECAFOOT will inform the Ministry about Cameroon’s participation in the competition and they will do everything to ensure the participation of the national team in the competition. He explained that according to a convention signed between FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, FECAFOOT will take care of the lodging, feeding and transportation of the foreign delegations while the Ministry takes care of the national team.

It is likely that the competition will take place on Saturday July 5, instead of July 4 due to the match between Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire which will also be played in Yaounde. The preliminary second leg round second leg will take place on the 16 to 18 July. The semi-finals are slated from July 30 to the August 1. The first leg finals will take place from the 3rd to the 5th of September while the second leg finals will be played between the 17th and 19th of September 2004. The competition will also determine Africa’s flag bearer in the World Futsal championship to be held in the Chinese town of Taipei from November 22 to December 12, 2004.