Make most of CHAN 2024
TANZANIA: TANZANIA, Kenya, and Uganda have been selected to co-host the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals to be held later this year, which will help to put them in the spotlight.
This is a great opportunity for the three neighbouring countries to prepare for the biggest football showpiece on the continent, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2027.
CHAN features players who engage in domestic leagues and serves as a rehearsal platform for the three countries.
The football fraternity around the world will be interested to see how they successfully host the event. It is encouraging that all three nations have earned direct entry for the championship, which means they will not have to worry about qualification battles.
For the domestic players who will participate in the forthcoming 8th edition of CHAN, they should keep in mind that the whole world will be watching the competition.
This is a better place to showcase their talent and potentially transform their lives within a short time. Football is a lucrative profession that has created many young billionaires who are enjoying life just because of their skills on the field.
Players who are set to embrace the 2024 CHAN should not underestimate the contest because they hardly know who is watching them.
They must be aware that the only way to succeed in football is by working hard and maintaining discipline. These two ingredients are essential to prosper in football, even for decorated players such as Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who always work hard and maintain discipline.
Now, coming back to the CHAN 2024, the Minister for Culture, Arts and Sports, Damas Ndumbaro, recently revealed that Tanzania mainland will prepare one hosting venue, Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, while Zanzibar will use Amaan Sports Complex.
“For Kenya and Uganda, each will prepare one stadium to host the CHAN competition and we are going to work closely in making sure that we fully succeed,” he said.
He further narrated that being given the green light to stage such an event requires government and citizens’ support, we need to fully get prepared and one way to achieve that is for our media outlets to report much on the competition.
“This is a reputable thing that we have been chosen to host the competition, it will bring so many opportunities in the country…we should all be ready for that,” Ndumbaro said.
Concerning the 2027 AFCON commonly known as PAMOJA AFCON, he said that jointly hosting the competition, will also help to promote the use of the Kiswahili language.
“We have learnt a lot from Ivory Coast who organised the 2023 AFCON finals and God willing, we will also learn much from the 2025 AFCON finals pegged in Morocco so that ours should be much better.
“For Tanzania mainland, the finals will be conducted in Dar es Salaam and Arusha not forgetting in Zanzibar…it is a big opportunity for economic prosperity.
“As we prepare for CHAN, we should also be focusing on the AFCON 2027 and if we work together, I am sure that nothing will stop us from becoming successful,” the minister narrated.
For Arusha being picked as one of the cities to host AFCON finals in 2027, there is no doubt that it will help to boost tourism as millions of the incoming people will not dare to leave Tanzania without storming Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro National Park.
Since AFCON matches are not played daily, the days in between will be vital for the visitors to tour beautiful tourist attractions that the country is endowed with thereby accumulating foreign currency essential in building a strong economy.
In this regard, kudos to the government for choosing Arusha as one of the cities after Dar es Salaam to entertain the AFCON 2027 and undoubtedly, it will be an unforgettable experience that will linger in people’s minds forever.
