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P.M. News (Lagos)

Africa: Goodbye Mali, Hello Tunisia

Nnamdi Okosieme

13 February 2002

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Lagos — Mali's African Nations Cup has ended after what has been years of worry, culminating in an anxious last few weeks.

Despite the meagre resources at its disposal, Mali's staging of the Nations Cup has been the biggest and most ambitious to date.

Mali is the first country to hold the tournament in six stadiums.

Although the facilities were not up to scratch, especially in Kayes, there were few genuine issues of concern.

Kayes was proven to be short on accommodation and extremely difficult to get to Before the tournament, critics suggested that Mali was spending far too much on a sports event, when the money could be better used to directly help its people.

However, the spirit of the fans in Mali lifted the competition, especially in a Nations Cup that was short on goals.

Tunisia is bullish about its hosting of the tournament, and there are few concerns about it being able to cope.

The North Africans boast that they could put on the Nations Cup next month if asked to by the Confederation of African Football.

Tunisia won the right to hold the event last year and already has all the facilities needed to hold a major competition.

The country held the 2001 Mediterranean Games and that infrastructure is still in place.

Tunisia last staged the Nations Cup just eight years ago after first hosting it in 1965.

But while there is no doubting the ability of Tunisia to hold the tournament, local fans may have concerns about their teams ability to win it, after an extremely disappointing outing at Mali 2002.(ACONS)

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