Euro 2022 isn't the only international women's tournament happening this month. In Morocco, AFCON is fighting for exposure, the same investment and trying to grow. NickMiller79 tells its story
VAR is in full use at every game. TV rights were sold to 60 countries, mostly in Africa but also in France, a few other European countries and in the Middle East through BeIN Sports. The total prize money pot has been increased by 150 per cent from the last tournament four years ago , with the winners taking home $500,000 US, as opposed to $200,000 in 2018.The number of teams has increased too: 12 started the tournament in Morocco, as opposed to eight in previous years.
For the players and coaches, the promotion of the women’s game is in their minds, but for many, the tournament has been a formative experience, something they might not have dreamed of when they were growing up. The sense of wonder isn’t confined to young players at relatively small clubs/weaker nations. Nigeria’s Onumonu is more used to the attention and pressure of big games, playing as she does for Gotham in the US National Women’s Soccer League. And yet, after their third group game against Burundi in Rabat this week, she had the slightly dazzled expression of someone who was almost overwhelmed by the experience., before pausing slightly. “It’s… stressful. I didn’t expect it to be like this.
Only three grounds are being used: the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat and the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca are the sort of places you would expect to watch an international tournament, but the third venue is not. Perhaps this is not really how you market international tournaments anymore, with social media arguably more effective than a few posters around town. But it still felt odd, particularly as match tickets are free. This is admittedly unscientific, but at a rough guess only about a fifth of the people we and other journalists asked around the city about the tournament even knew it was happening.
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