South Africa boss Hugo Broos says the environment at this year’s AFCON is not living up the usual vibrancy of the previous editions:
“I don’t feel the same atmosphere as in Gabon or Côte d’Ivoire. In Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon, you could really feel the atmosphere of a tournament. When we took the bus to training, people were waving flags and greeting us. Here, there’s nothing.”
“There’s no atmosphere, none of the typical AFCON vibe. I don’t feel it here. If entry to the stadium isn’t free, no one comes to watch the matches.”
“No one came to see our match against Angola. In Côte d’Ivoire, for our games against Mali, Tunisia and Namibia, the stands were full. The local population was involved in the tournament, something I don’t feel here.”
“My family was at our match against Egypt and it was chaos even before kick-off. Police stopped some people from entering the stadium despite having tickets. People with tickets couldn’t get in, while crowds without tickets were allowed to enter. My wife said she was scared. The organisation is deplorable.”
