The official claims those nations have invested in the game and this is why they have emerged winners in almost every final
AFC Leopards Football Operations Manager Tom Juma has explained why the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament has been dominated by the West and North African countries.
Juma admits those countries have invested in their football setups and the majority of the players were nurtured at an early age while at school.
In the last Afcon edition held in Egypt, the Cecafa region was represented by Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda but it is only the Cranes who reached the knockout stage. Uganda were eliminated by Senegal in the Round of 16.
“These teams [West and North African nations] have invested a lot in their football systems and in those countries, football is like a religion to the people,” Juma told Goal.
“Talk of better stadiums, ever-present youth setups and once you have all those things then even the quality of football goes high and footballers improve a lot not only in talent-wise but also in motivation.
“In those countries, it almost looks like a government policy to help their game grow because the majority of those players were given opportunities to explore their talents while young and at school.
“Lack of those things is what has been a big disadvantage to the East African teams.”
Juma pointed out specific problems afflicting the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) in his illustration as to why countries are struggling to match their Western and Northern rivals.
“For example, in Kenya pitches are not up to standard, surfaces are in very poor states and sometimes three matches can be played on one pitch,” Juma added.
“Even the players are not being paid because teams have no sponsors and when such a critical unit of football is under immense pressure, definitely the football level will go down.
“These issues surely will affect our football level and we cannot compete with our counterparts in the continent if we are still struggling with basic problems.”
Out of the 32 Afcon editions, 25 champions have emerged from either a West African or a North African country leaving the other slots shared by countries outside the two hemispheres.
Since 1976, the winner has come out of the West-North zone twice when Zambia won the title in 2012 after beating Ivory Coast and when South Africa emerged victorious in 1996 after defeating Tunisia in the final.
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