Football in Africa
| Football in Africa | |
|---|---|
| Governing body | Confederation of African Football |
International competitions | |
Champions League CAF Confederation Cup Super Cup FIFA Club World Cup FIFA World Cup(National Team) African Cup of Nations(National Team) | |
Football is the most popular sport in Africa. Indeed, football is probably the most popular sport in every African country, although rugby and cricket are also very popular in South Africa.[1]
History
Football was first introduced to Africa in the late 19th century by Europeans.[2] The game was first played in the continent in 1862; historian Peter Alegi writes that it "spread very quickly through the mission schools, through the military forces and through the railways."[2] Teams were being established in South Africa before 1900, and in Algeria during a similar time period. Cape Coast Excelsior is the oldest African football club that remains in existence; it began play in Ghana in 1903. By the 1930s, football was being played in Central Africa.[2]
As Africa is a highly superstitous continent many African teams depend on witch doctors for success.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Children are often explotited by agents also.[10][11][12][13]
Competitions
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) was founded in 1957, and the first Africa Cup of Nations was held the same year, with a three-team field.[14] As the sport grew football associations grew across to the continent. African national teams compete in the Africa Cup of Nations and also in the African Nations Championship for local teams.[14][15]
The first African nation to participate in the FIFA World Cup was Egypt in 1934.[16] That remained the only World Cup appearance by a team from the continent until 1966, when a team from CAF was originally scheduled to compete in a playoff with teams from Asia and Oceania for one tournament berth. In response, CAF nations boycotted World Cup qualifying, and FIFA granted CAF one guaranteed berth in the 1970 tournament.[17] Starting in 1970, African nations at the FIFA World Cup started to compete regularly.[17][18][19][20][21][22] Zaire was Africa's representative at the 1974 edition of the competition. The team lost all three of its games.[21] In 1977, Pelé stated his belief that a team from the continent would be crowned World Cup champions by the end of the 20th century, which proved incorrect.[23] Cameroon advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup, becoming the first African national team to do so. Senegal and Ghana matched the feat, in 2002 and 2010 respectively.[16] By 2010 South Africa become the first African nation to host the World Cup.[24][25]
Women's football
Football is played in a limited capacity by women due to a lack of funding.[26] The masculine nature of football has proved a deterrent to women's involvement in football in Africa.[27][28]
References
- ↑ "Football (Soccer) in Africa | Exploring Africa". Exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- 1 2 3 "The History Of Soccer In Africa". NPR.org. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
- ↑ "For African soccer, days of juju men have mostly passed". LA Times. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "Call in the pitch doctor". Sun. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "Kangemi Journal; For Spellbinding Soccer, the Juju Man's on the Ball". NY Times. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "World Cup Witchcraft: Africa Teams Turn to Magic for Aid". National Geographic. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "The History Of Soccer In Africa". NPR.org. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ Andy Mitten. "The Rough Guide to Cult Football". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ↑ "African Nations Cup overshadowed by hocus pocus | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ Edwards, Piers. "Can Fifa end child trafficking from Africa to Asia?". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ↑ Sinnott, John (2013-03-28). "Human traffic: Africa's lost boys - CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ↑ Dan McDougall. "The scandal of Africa's trafficked players | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ↑ Ed Hawkins (2015-12-22). "Victims or fraudsters? The world of football trafficking laid bare | News & Comment | Sport". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- 1 2 "Africa Cup of Nations: A brief history". Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "African Cup of Nations - How it all began". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- 1 2 Adam, Mohammed (2014-07-23). "Why African countries don't win the World Cup". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- 1 2 "How Africa boycotted the 1966 World Cup - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- ↑ Merrill, Austin. "Zaire, the Leopards, and the 1974 World Cup". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "Zaire: The tale of Africa's disastrous entry into the World Cup - Daily Nation". Nation.co.ke. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ↑ "BBC SPORT | WORLD CUP | History | 1974: Zaire's show of shame". BBC News. 2002-05-22. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- 1 2 "Africa Honors Its Soccer Past and Looks Forward". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ↑ Edwards, Piers. "Joao Havelange, the unlikely godfather of African football". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
- ↑ Sweetman, Tom (2014-06-13). "Brazil 2014: Five things African teams need to win first World Cup". CNN International. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ↑ Charles P. Korr (2013-12-05). "Nelson Mandela saw sport as way to connect S. Africans". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
- ↑ "For Nelson Mandela, sports were major weapon against racism". CNN.com. 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
- ↑ Anna Kessel. "Ivory Coast exit Women's World Cup as Africa pleads for more support | Anna Kessel | Football". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
- ↑ Peter Alegi (2 March 2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-89680-278-0. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ Shearlaw, Maeve (3 December 2016). "Skilled, determined and broke: Africa's female football pioneers". Retrieved 4 December 2016 – via The Guardian.