This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress-Rabat-Caf
The countdown continues when approaching the African Cup of Nations Totalnergies, Morocco 2024. On this occasion, Cafonline.com returns to the main dates that have shaped the history of this emblematic competition, the 13th edition of which is already full of promises.
Cap today on August 6, 2015, the date on which the CAF executive committee makes a symbolic decision: officially rename the tournament “African Cup of Nations Women’s Nations”, echoing its male counter.
The African Cup of Nations Female Totalnergies 2024 is in 15 days.
It was not until 2015 that the largest female tournament in Africa fully took its identity. On August 6 of that year, after a meeting of the Executive Committee, the African Football Confederation acts a symbolic decision: the continental tournament is now baptized “African Cup of Nations Women”, on the exact model of male CAN.
A detail? Not really. This change of name marks official recognition of the status of competition and the growing importance of women’s football on the continent. No more secondary or peripheral appellations. Now, the female CAN is an institution in its own right, with its history, its issues, its heroines.
“It’s not just a name, it’s a signal,” said Issa Hayatou, the president of the CAF at the time. “We stop talking about a ‘little female tournament’ and we say that this is a major championship. »»
This identity turn comes in a context of deep transformation. In 2016, the tournament organized in Cameroon was the first to wear this new name. On the ground, Nigeria won its 8th title by beating the indomitable lionesses in Yaoundé (1-0), in a stadium full to crack. Behind the scenes, the CAF signs a major sponsorship contract with totalnergies, giving the test a new economic and media breath.
