Africa Cup of Nations organisers confident no repeat of Cameroon disaster
Ivory Coast may be one of the heavyweights in African football but this will be only the second time they host the finals, after 1984 when the tournament featured just eight teams instead of the 24 this time round. The competition runs from January 13 to February 11 with Senegal defending the title they won for the first time after beating Egypt on penalties.
It retains its 2023 moniker despite the decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in July last year to postpone it from the original dates in the northern hemisphere summer owing to fears over staging matches during the rainy season. Around $1.5 billion has been invested which includes funding improved roads - principally a complete overhaul of the 350-kilometre coastal road which links Abidjan - the economic capital - to the port city of San Pedro, cutting in half the travel time between the two.
Aside from the external security risk posed by jihadists based in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, Ivorian authorities have moved to quell fears over crowd control which has been the source of most anxiety due to what happened in Yaounde two years ago. The last-16 clash between hosts Cameroon and the Comoros resulted in eight dying and dozens injured due to a crush as home fans piled in to watch.
Youssouf Kouyate, director-general of the Ivory Coast police, told AFP they had measures in place for all six stadia to avoid a similar tragedy - with organisers expecting 1.5 million fans from outside the country. "We are going to open the gates to the stadia very early, we will ensure the spectators form an orderly queue so they can enter the stadium without any trouble," he said.
"We are going to demand spectators come early." There will be some 17,000 soldiers and
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