Bomb "warm-up" armored vehicles pressed the African Cup of Nations can be held safely?

Source: Sports Weekly

This Sunday, local time, the "Africa Cup of Nations 2021", which has been postponed for one year due to the epidemic, will officially kick off in Cameroon. For African football, it is a late event, but for Europe's major leagues, it is more like a disaster that cannot be avoided. And when all the media are counting what the giants have lost, the news from Africa is not very optimistic: as someone said before, the potential danger of participating in the African Cup of Nations is not only virus infection, but also life safety may also be threatened.

At present, it is almost certain that the situation in Cameroon is not very stable, especially in Limbe, one of the six host cities of the African Cup of Nations. This coastal city in western Cameroon belongs to the country's "English-speaking zone", one of the main conflict zones of Cameroon's "civil war". Since the outbreak of the "English-speaking zone crisis" in Cameroon in 2017, the conflict has directly killed at least 3,500 people and displaced more than 700,000 people.

After the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, the conflict between the parties once showed signs of relative cooling due to the situation, but the crisis has never been completely resolved, and the current situation in Limbe still looks quite tense. It is said that the main buildings and intersections in the area are now fully armed soldiers and equipped with armored vehicles, and this is obviously not just to ensure the smooth convening of the African Cup of Nations. According to Agence France-Presse, a leader of a local human rights group revealed to them that there was an explosion at a takeaway shop in Limbe last Wednesday. At the same time, the other party also said: "This is a strong signal." Although the Cameroonian government acted quickly, using the military to tighten controls and search for opposition forces, their promise that the African Cup of Nations would be held in good conditions was a little too reassuring.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that the reactionary forces have wanted to "open the knife" with a football game. Cameroon hosted the African Nations Championship last January (a tournament played only by African players playing in Africa), and rebels who had previously declared independence to establish the "Abazonia" regime also caused an explosion in Limbe a few days before the tournament, believing that the move violated "national sovereignty". Although the subsequent matches were finally completed as planned, this does not mean that this year's Africa Cup of Nations can certainly sit back and relax. There will be six group matches and one quarter-final in Limbe, with all Group F teams playing here, with four teams including Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania and the Gambia.

In view of the dangers of the unclear situation on the ground, the British Government has issued a proclamation advising its citizens not to travel to Limbe unless necessary. In addition, another Cameroonian city, Garua, is also among the "not recommended". The latter is where many Premier League stars will appear – Group D, which will be contested here, includes Nigeria, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Sudan, which means that there will be familiar faces such as Salah, Neni, Ndidi, Ikhnacho and Iwobi.