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2015 Africa Cup of Nations

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2015 Africa Cup of Nations
Copa Africana de Naciones 2015
Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2015
Campeonato Africano das Nações de 2015
AFCON 2015
CAN 2015
Tournament details
Host countryEquatorial Guinea
Dates17 January – 8 February
Teams16
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Ivory Coast (2nd title)
Runners-up Ghana
Third place DR Congo
Fourth place Equatorial Guinea
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored68 (2.13 per match)
Attendance617,374 (19,293 per match)
Top scorer(s)Tunisia Ahmed Akaïchi
Ghana André Ayew
Equatorial Guinea Javier Balboa
Republic of the Congo Thievy Bifouma
Democratic Republic of the Congo Dieumerci Mbokani
(3 goals each)
Best player(s)Ghana Christian Atsu
Best goalkeeperIvory Coast Sylvain Gbohouo
Fair play award DR Congo
← 2013
2017 →
  Champion
  Runner-up
  Third place
  Fourth place
  Quarter-finals
  Group stage

The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was held from 17 January to 8 February 2015.[1][2]

The tournament was initially scheduled to be hosted by Morocco who later demanded postponement of the event because of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa;[3] subsequently Morocco was ruled out as a host country and replaced by Equatorial Guinea.[4]

Ivory Coast won the tournament for their second Africa Cup of Nations title, defeating Ghana 9–8 in a penalty shoot-out after the final finished goalless following extra time. The DR Congo came third and the hosts Equatorial Guinea fourth, while defending champions Nigeria did not qualify.

Host selection

[edit]

Bids :

  • Botswana[5] (withdrew)
  • Cameroon[6] (withdrew)
  • DR Congo[7] (withdrew)
  • Guinea[8] (withdrew)
  • Morocco[9] (selected as hosts for 2015)
  • South Africa[10] (selected as hosts for 2017)
  • Zambia[11] (withdrew)
  • Zimbabwe[12] (withdrew)

CAF received 3 bids before 30 September 2010, the deadline, to host either the 2015 or 2017 Africa Cup of Nations from DR Congo, Morocco and South Africa. All three bids were originally put on a shortlist.[13] CAF then began an inspection procedure, on November and December 2010, intending to visit each bidding country to view stadiums, infrastructure, and football interest. They inspected the DR Congo first.[14] Shortly after the inspection, DR Congo informed CAF that they would be withdrawing their bids for both the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.[15] Morocco was the next country to be inspected, with CAF visiting the country in early November 2010.[16] South Africa was inspected in December 2010.

On 29 January, during the 2011 CAF Super Cup, the CAF Board decided that Morocco would host the 2015 African Cup of Nations, while the 2017 edition would be held in South Africa.[17] The four Morocco host cities which were scheduled to host the tournament were Rabat, Marrakesh, Agadir and Tangier, as announced by the CAF Executive Committee on 23 September 2013.[18] Casablanca would serve as an alternative venue.[19]

Moroccan withdrawal

[edit]

In October 2014, the government of Morocco requested a postponement of the tournament due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.[20] After the matter was discussed at the executive committee meeting on 2 November 2014, CAF decided to keep the date of the tournament, while also asking for a clarification from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation of whether they still wish to host the tournament.[21] On 8 November, Morocco failed to meet this deadline to confirm it would host the tournament.[22] Three days later CAF confirmed that Morocco would not host the tournament and a new host would be chosen from a list of countries which have expressed interest. Morocco, who had previously qualified as hosts, were disqualified from participation at the tournament.[3][23] CAF confirmed legal action against Morocco due to a contract signed in April 2014.[24] Moroccan Sports Minister Mohamed Ouzzine said that CAF had falsely accused his country of "refusing" to host the tournament when it wanted it postponed, and justified the decision by citing that the World Health Organization gives every country the right to protect its citizens.[24] On 6 February 2015, CAF announced that Morocco had been banned from the next two AFCON tournaments, fined 1 million US dollars, as well as demanding 9 million US dollars in compensation.[25][26] However, the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning Morocco could (and later did) enter the tournaments.[27]

Egypt, Ghana, South Africa and Sudan all declined to take over as hosts.[28] Angola, the hosts of the 2010 edition, were spoken of as a potential replacement due to existing stadia and infrastructure in the country. However, a member of the Angolan Football Federation stated that it could not be possible as the new government budget did not include any tournaments.[24]

On 14 November 2014, CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea would host the tournament.[4]

Qualification

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
  Qualified
  Failed to qualify
  Withdrew, disqualified or did not enter
  Not part of CAF

Qualification for the tournament were made up of four stages, three preliminary rounds and a final group stage. The 21 best-ranked teams were given a bye to the group stage, while the next 26 teams began play in the second preliminary round, and four lowest ranked teams started at the first round. The three preliminary rounds were a series of playoffs, with the winners advancing.

51 nations entered the tournament (excluding initial hosts Morocco). It was the competitive debut of South Sudan. Djibouti and Somalia declined to enter.

Morocco would have automatically qualified as hosts; however, after their refusal to host, they were expelled from the tournament by the CAF.[3][23] Equatorial Guinea was chosen as the new host, and despite having played in the qualifiers and been disqualified due to fielding an ineligible player, they qualified for the tournament automatically.[4]

The defending champions Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament.[29]

Qualified teams

[edit]

The following sixteen teams qualified for the tournament.

Country Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearance in tournament1–2
 Equatorial Guinea Hosts 14 November 2014 1 (2012)
 South Africa Group A winners 15 November 2014 8 (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013)
 Congo Group A runners-up 19 November 2014 6 (1968, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1992, 2000)
 Algeria Group B winners 15 October 2014 15 (1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2013)
 Mali Group B runners-up 19 November 2014 8 (1972, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013)
 Gabon Group C winners 15 November 2014 5 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2010, 2012)
 Burkina Faso Group C runners-up 15 November 2014 9 (1978, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2013)
 Cameroon Group D winners 15 November 2014 16 (1970, 1972, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
 Ivory Coast Group D runners-up 19 November 2014 20 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013)
 Ghana Group E winners 19 November 2014 19 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013)
 Guinea Group E runners-up 19 November 2014 10 (1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012)
 Cape Verde Group F winners 15 October 2014 1 (2013)
 Zambia Group F runners-up 15 November 2014 16 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013)
 Tunisia Group G winners 14 November 2014 16 (1962, 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013)
 Senegal Group G runners-up 15 November 2014 12 (1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012)
 DR Congo Best third placed team 19 November 2014 16 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2013)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year.
2 Italic indicates host for that year.

Venues

[edit]
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
200km
124miles
none
4
Malabo
3
Ebibeyin
2
Mongomo
1
Bata
Location of the host cities of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
1
Bata
2
Mongomo
3
Ebibeyin
4
Malabo

The four Equatorial Guinean cities selected to host the tournament were Malabo, Bata, Mongomo and Ebibeyin.[30]

Malabo and Bata were also host venues for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Screening for Ebola was given to all spectators attending matches.[31]

City Stadium Capacity
Bata Estadio de Bata 41,000
Mongomo Estadio de Mongomo 15,000
Ebibeyin Estadio de Ebibeyin 8,000
Malabo Estadio de Malabo 20,000

Format

[edit]

Only the hosts got an automatic qualification spot, the other 15 teams qualified through qualification tournament. At the finals, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams each. The teams in each group played a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners advanced to the semifinals. The semifinal losers played in the third place match, while the semifinal winners played in the final.[32]

Draw

[edit]

The finals draw was held on 3 December 2014 in Malabo.[30][33] It was initially to be held on 26 November 2014 in Rabat before the change of host country.[1][34]

The 16 teams were divided into four pots based on the CAF Ranking, with the hosts Equatorial Guinea placed in Pot 1 automatically.[35] The ranking was computed using the teams' results in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers (weighted by 2), 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 3) and qualifiers (weighted by 1), the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 2) and qualifiers (weighted by 0.5), the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 1), and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[36]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 Equatorial Guinea (host; assigned to A1)
 Ghana (48 pts)
 Ivory Coast (44 pts)
 Zambia (41 pts)

 Burkina Faso (40 pts)
 Mali (38 pts)
 Tunisia (32.5 pts)
 Algeria (28 pts) 		 Cape Verde (26.5 pts)
 South Africa (23.5 pts)
 Cameroon (23.5 pts)
 Gabon (22 pts) 		 Guinea (19 pts)
 Senegal (19 pts)
 DR Congo (18 pts)
 Congo (13 pts)

Match officials

[edit]

The following referees were chosen for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Referees
Assistant referees
  • Algeria Albdelhak Etchiali
  • Angola Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos
  • Burundi Jean-Claude Birumushahu
  • Botswana Oamogetse Godisamang
  • Cameroon Evarist Menkouande
  • Ivory Coast Yéo Songuifolo
  • Djibouti Hassan Egueh Yacin
  • Egypt Tahssen Abo El Sadat Bedyer
  • Eritrea Angesom Ogbamariam
  • Ghana Malik Alidu Salifu
  • Guinea Aboubacar Doumbouya
  • Kenya Marwa Range
  • Morocco Redouane Achik
  • Niger Yahaya Mahamadou
  • Nigeria Peter Edibe
  • Rwanda Theogene Ndagijimana
  • Senegal Djibril Camara
  • Senegal El Hadji Malick Samba
  • South Africa Zakhele Siwela
  • Sudan Ali Waleed Ahmed
  • Tunisia Anouar Hmila

Squads

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squads

Each team could register a squad of 23 players.[32]

Group stage

[edit]

The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[32]

  1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
  3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to teams concerned, two or three teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between these teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 will apply;
  5. Goal difference in all games;
  6. Goals scored in all games;
  7. Drawing of lots.

Group A

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Congo 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Equatorial Guinea (H) 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 5
3  Gabon 3 1 0 2 2 3 −1 3
4  Burkina Faso 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source: CAF
(H) Hosts
Equatorial Guinea 1–1 Congo
Nsue 16' Report Bifouma 87'
Attendance: 40,245
Burkina Faso 0–2 Gabon
Report Aubameyang 19'
Evouna 72'
Attendance: 40,245
Equatorial Guinea 0–0 Burkina Faso
Report
Attendance: 39,867
Gabon 0–1 Congo
Report Oniangué 48'
Attendance: 34,782
Gabon 0–2 Equatorial Guinea
Report Balboa 55' (pen.)
Ibán 85'
Attendance: 39,230
Congo 2–1 Burkina Faso
Bifouma 51'
Ondama 87'		 Report Bancé 86'
Attendance: 7,945

Group B

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group B

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Tunisia 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5 Advance to knockout stage
2  DR Congo 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
3  Cape Verde 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 3
4  Zambia 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
Source: CAF
Zambia 1–1 DR Congo
Singuluma 2' Report Bolasie 66'
Attendance: 7,319
Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)
Tunisia 1–1 Cape Verde
Manser 70' Report Héldon 78' (pen.)
Attendance: 7,479
Zambia 1–2 Tunisia
Mayuka 60' Report Akaïchi 70'
Chikhaoui 89'
Attendance: 8,000
Cape Verde 0–0 DR Congo
Report
Attendance: 7,680
Cape Verde 0–0 Zambia
Report
Attendance: 7,950
DR Congo 1–1 Tunisia
Bokila 66' Report Akaïchi 31'
Attendance: 11,463

Group C

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group C

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Ghana 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Algeria 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6
3  Senegal 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
4  South Africa 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 1
Source: CAF
Ghana 1–2 Senegal
A. Ayew 14' (pen.) Report Diouf 58'
Sow 90+3'
Attendance: 13,569
Algeria 3–1 South Africa
Hlatshwayo 67' (o.g.)
Ghoulam 72'
Slimani 83'		 Report Phala 51'
Attendance: 12,788
Ghana 1–0 Algeria
Gyan 90+2' Report
Attendance: 12,387
South Africa 1–1 Senegal
Manyisa 47' Report Mbodj 60'
Attendance: 13,674
South Africa 1–2 Ghana
Masango 17' Report Boye 73'
A. Ayew 83'
Attendance: 13,670
Senegal 0–2 Algeria
Report Mahrez 11'
Bentaleb 82'
Attendance: 14,549

Group D

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group D

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Ivory Coast 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5 Advance to knockout stage
2  Guinea 3 0 3 0 3 3 0 3[a]
3  Mali 3 0 3 0 3 3 0 3[a]
4  Cameroon 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Guinea and Mali were tied on head-to-head record, overall goal difference, and overall goals scored. A drawing of lots took place on 29 January 2015, 16:00 local time at the Hilton Malabo. Guinea selected the lot for 2nd place and advanced to the quarter-finals as the group runner-up.[37][38][39]
Ivory Coast 1–1 Guinea
Doumbia 72' Report M. Yattara 36'
Attendance: 14,875
Mali 1–1 Cameroon
S. Yatabaré 71' Report Oyongo 84'
Attendance: 15,000
Ivory Coast 1–1 Mali
Gradel 86' Report Sako 7'
Attendance: 14,890
Cameroon 1–1 Guinea
Moukandjo 13' Report Traoré 42'
Attendance: 15,000
Cameroon 0–1 Ivory Coast
Report Gradel 35'
Attendance: 15,230
Guinea 1–1 Mali
Constant 15' (pen.) Report Maïga 47'
Attendance: 13,470

Knockout stage

[edit]
Match Ghana vs Guinea
2015 Africa Cup of Nations Champions Ivory Coast
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time shall be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place where no extra time shall be played.[32]

On 27 January 2015, the CAF announced that they had relocated the venues of two of the quarter-finals:[40]

The kick-off time of quarter-finals 2 and 4 are also changed from 20:00 to 20:30 local time.

Bracket

[edit]
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
31 January – Bata
 
 
 Congo2
 
4 February – Bata
 
 DR Congo4
 
 DR Congo1
 
1 February – Malabo
 
 Ivory Coast3
 
 Ivory Coast3
 
8 February – Bata
 
 Algeria1
 
 Ivory Coast (p)0 (9)
 
1 February – Malabo
 
 Ghana 0 (8)
 
 Ghana3
 
5 February – Malabo
 
 Guinea0
 
 Ghana3
 
31 January – Bata
 
 Equatorial Guinea0 Third place play-off
 
 Tunisia1
 
7 February – Malabo
 
 Equatorial Guinea (a.e.t.) 2
 
 DR Congo (p)0 (4)
 
 
 Equatorial Guinea0 (2)
 

Quarter-finals

[edit]
Congo 2–4 DR Congo
Doré 55'
Bifouma 62'		 Report Mbokani 65', 90+1'
Bokila 75'
Kimwaki 81'
Attendance: 31,670
Tunisia 1–2 (a.e.t.) Equatorial Guinea
Akaïchi 70' Report Balboa 90+3' (pen.), 102'
Attendance: 41,000
Ghana 3–0 Guinea
Atsu 4', 61'
Appiah 44'		 Report
Attendance: 14,500
Ivory Coast 3–1 Algeria
Bony 26', 68'
Gervinho 90+4'		 Report Soudani 51'
Attendance: 15,000

Semi-finals

[edit]
DR Congo 1–3 Ivory Coast
Mbokani 24' (pen.) Report Y. Touré 20'
Gervinho 41'
Kanon 68'
Attendance: 30,000
Ghana 3–0 Equatorial Guinea
J. Ayew 42' (pen.)
Wakaso 45+1'
A. Ayew 75'		 Report
Attendance: 15,250

Third place play-off

[edit]
DR Congo 0–0 Equatorial Guinea
Report
Penalties
Mabwati soccer ball with check mark
Mabidi soccer ball with check mark
Mbemba soccer ball with check mark
Mongongu soccer ball with check mark		 4–2 soccer ball with red X Balboa
soccer ball with red X Fabiani
soccer ball with check mark Juvenal
soccer ball with check mark Ellong
Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)

Final

[edit]
Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final
Ivory Coast 0–0 (a.e.t.) Ghana
Report
Penalties
Bony soccer ball with red X
Gadji soccer ball with red X
Aurier soccer ball with check mark
Doumbia soccer ball with check mark
Y. Touré soccer ball with check mark
Kalou soccer ball with check mark
K. Touré soccer ball with check mark
Kanon soccer ball with check mark
Bailly soccer ball with check mark
Dié soccer ball with check mark
Barry soccer ball with check mark		 9–8 soccer ball with check mark Wakaso
soccer ball with check mark J. Ayew
soccer ball with red X Acquah
soccer ball with red X Acheampong
soccer ball with check mark A. Ayew
soccer ball with check mark Mensah
soccer ball with check mark Badu
soccer ball with check mark Afful
soccer ball with check mark Rahman
soccer ball with check mark Boye
soccer ball with red X Razak
Attendance: 32,857

Statistics

[edit]

Goalscorers

[edit]
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Awards

[edit]
Pepsi Highest Scorer
Player name Games played Goals scored Assists Minutes played Source
Ghana André Ayew 6 3 2 [41]
Republic of the Congo Thievy Bifouma 4 3
Tunisia Ahmed Akaïchi 4 3
Democratic Republic of the Congo Dieumerci Mbokani 6 3 1
Equatorial Guinea Javier Balboa 6 3
Orange Man of the Competition
Best Goalkeeper
Nissan Goal of the tournament
Samsung Fair Player of the Tournament
Fair Play of the tournament
 DR Congo[42]
CAF Team of the Tournament[43]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Ivory Coast Sylvain Gbohouo
Democratic Republic of the Congo Robert Kidiaba (tie) 		Ivory Coast Serge Aurier
Ghana Harrison Afful
Ivory Coast Kolo Touré 		Ghana André Ayew
Ivory Coast Yaya Touré
Ivory Coast Max Gradel
Democratic Republic of the Congo Yannick Bolasie
Ivory Coast Gervinho 		Ghana Christian Atsu
Ivory Coast Wilfried Bony

Tournament rankings

[edit]
Pos. Team G Pld W D L Pts GF GA GD
1  Ivory Coast D 6 3 3 0 12 9 4 +5
2  Ghana C 6 4 1 1 13 10 3 +7
3  DR Congo B 6 1 4 1 7 7 7 0
4  Equatorial Guinea A 6 2 3 1 9 5 5 0
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5  Congo A 4 2 1 1 7 6 6 0
6  Algeria C 4 2 0 2 6 6 5 +1
7  Tunisia B 4 1 2 1 5 5 5 0
8  Guinea D 4 0 3 1 3 3 6 −3
Eliminated in the group stage
9  Senegal C 3 1 1 1 4 3 4 −1
10  Mali D 3 0 3 0 3 3 3 0
11  Cape Verde B 3 0 3 0 3 1 1 0
12  Gabon A 3 1 0 2 3 2 3 −1
13  Cameroon D 3 0 2 1 2 2 3 −1
14  Zambia B 3 0 2 1 2 2 3 −1
15  South Africa C 3 0 1 2 1 3 6 −3
16  Burkina Faso A 3 0 1 2 1 1 4 −3

Discipline

[edit]

In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. The disciplinary panel has the ability to increase the automatic one match ban for a red card (e.g. for violent conduct). Single yellow card cautions were erased at the conclusion of the group stage, and were not carried over to the knockout stage.[32] The following players were or are suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:

Player Offence Suspension
Burkina Faso Florent Rouamba Carried over from qualification Group A vs Gabon[45]
Zambia Donashano Malama Group B vs DR Congo[46]
South Africa Eric Mathoho Group C vs Algeria[47]
South Africa Reneilwe Letsholonyane
Guinea Seydouba Soumah Group D vs Ivory Coast[48]
Ivory Coast Gervinho Red card vs Guinea Group D vs Mali
Group D vs Cameroon[49]
Equatorial Guinea Diosdado Mbele Yellow card vs Congo
Yellow card vs Burkina Faso 		Group A vs Gabon
Republic of the Congo Boris Moubhibo Yellow card vs Equatorial Guinea
Yellow card vs Gabon 		Group A vs Burkina Faso
Ivory Coast Cheick Tioté Yellow card vs Guinea
Yellow card vs Mali 		Group D vs Cameroon
Guinea Naby Yattara Red card vs Ghana Africa Cup of Nations qualifying
Equatorial Guinea Ibán Yellow card vs Tunisia
Yellow card vs Ghana 		Third place play-off vs DR Congo

Marketing

[edit]

Sponsorship

[edit]

The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations has one title sponsor and seven official sponsors as shown below.[50]

Title sponsor Official sponsors

Match ball

[edit]

The new Adidas Africa Cup Ball is called Adidas Marhaba (meaning Welcome, in Arabic). The Africa Cup 2015 Ball was unveiled 26 November 2014 following the controversy about the host situation for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.[51]

Mascot

[edit]

The official mascot of the tournament was "Chuku Chuku", a porcupine.[52]

Opening ceremony

[edit]

The opening ceremony of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations took place on 17 January, at the Estadio de Bata, before the opening match of the tournament between hosts Equatorial Guinea and Congo.

Controversies

[edit]

Drawing of lots

[edit]

Guinea and Mali finished with equal records in Group D, thus the drawing of lots was required to choose who would advance into the quarter-finals. Prior to the draw, Mali coach Henri Kasperczak said that the tournament "must find a more sporting way [to decide who advances], fairer...This does not correspond to a sporting spirit". His Guinean counterpart Michel Dussuyer said that neither team deserved to be eliminated in that manner.[53]

Guinea won the draw, causing a complaint from Boubacar Diarra, president of the Malian FA. Issa Haytou, president of CAF, defended the process as the only option.[54]

The CAF Disciplinary Committee's South African President Raymond Hack stated that CAF's Member Associations had chosen the option of picking lots ahead of penalties six months prior. He also said that the "Fair Play [disciplinary] table was to be used but the countries object to that and they said the table must be taken out of the rules. Had the Fair play table been used, Guinea would have qualified ahead of Mali with a better disciplinary record."[55]

Tunisia vs. Equatorial Guinea refereeing

[edit]

Wadie Jary, the president of the Tunisian Football Federation, claimed that there was a bias against Tunisia following their controversial quarter-final defeat to Equatorial Guinea on 31 January 2015. He was banned from CAF competitions and activities.[56] Rajindraparsad Seechurn, the Mauritian referee who gave a penalty to Equatorial Guinea in that match, was banned from officiating for six months and removed from CAF's elite register of referees.[57] The Tunisian FA was fined $50,000 for confronting the referee during the match, in addition to damage to changing room facilities, while Equatorial Guinea was fined $5,000 for inadequate security at the stadium.[57]

Equatorial Guinea vs. Ghana crowd incidents

[edit]

During the semi-final fixture between host nation of Equatorial Guinea and Ghana several incidents occurred between the home fans, visiting fans and police. At the half-time break with Ghana leading the game 2–0, the Ghanaian players were protected from hostile Equatoguinean fans by police using plastic shields.

During the 82nd minute in the second half, fans rushed onto the pitch and missiles were thrown at the Ghanaian substitute players. The players moved onto the pitch to escape the missiles. The travelling Ghanaian fans were also targets and took shelter near the goal of the pitch, out of the range of those throwing objects. A helicopter was dispatched and used to disperse spectators out of the stadium by hovering at a low height above them. The Ghanaian FA described the incident as being similar to a "war zone".[58]

Equatorial Guinea's Police force had fired smoke bombs into the stands in an attempt to bring order.[59] The game was stopped for about 30 minutes, before recommencing for a few minutes.

CAF imposed a US$100k fine on the Equatoguinean Football Federation and were informed an 'official match' in Equatorial Guinea must be held 'behind closed doors' after the tournament's completion.[60]

DR Congo defender Gabriel Zakuani stated that he would rather his team forfeit the third-place playoff instead of play in front of Equatorial Guinea's fans, an opinion which was not shared by his manager Florent Ibengé.[61]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Final tournament to run from 17th January to 8th February; semi-finals separated". cafonline.com. 26 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Press Release following CAF EXCO May 2013 meetings". cafonline.com. 16 May 2013.
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