{"id":22695,"date":"2024-02-02T04:03:43","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T04:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biografrica.com\/?p=22695"},"modified":"2024-11-24T14:49:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T14:49:17","slug":"afcon-2023-ivory-coast-more-than-just-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biografrica.com\/afcon-2023-ivory-coast-more-than-just-football\/","title":{"rendered":"AFCON 2023: This is a Brotherly Affair!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The ongoing AFCON is a testimony to the uniting power of football. The tournament which is presently being played in Ivory Coast witnesses a reawakening in cultural pride and kin consciousness among Africans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As if to usher us into what has now become an odyssey of cultural renaissance, the host nation, Ivory Coast, welcomed us to the tournament with a goose-bumping exhibition of African masquerades, dances, artworks and music. What followed after that symbolic opening ceremony<\/a> has been a carnival of art and a celebration of our oneness as a people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few days after the opening ceremony, Ivorian fans, faced with the fear of being eliminated in the group stage of the competition after losing a match to the Super Eagles of Nigeria, found succour in an Igbo song, a sorrowful soundtrack picked from the old Nollywood movie: Billionaires\u2019 Club. In viral videos<\/a> being circulated on social media, the Ivoirians are seen playing and singing the sorrowful Igbo song to console themselves as they departed the stadium, after watching their national team being beaten by their Nigerian counterparts. Hearing Ivorians, a distant country from Nigeria, heartily singing in Igbo, proved that, like Julius Malema<\/a> of South Africa had always said: these territorial borders which seek to separate one African country from another are very much artificial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n READ ALSO: <\/strong>Why Are African Players Choosing European Clubs Over National Teams?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the field of play, there has been a commendable show of sportsmanship and brotherly love among the players, match officials and fans. The officiating has been friendly and fair. The post-match interviews and reactions have been devoid of rancour and bitterness (except for the allegation of bias recently levelled against CAF by Senegalese player, Krepin Diatta, after his team was knocked in a penalty shoot-out by the host, Ivory Coast). The vibe has been one which proudly proclaims the mantra: \u2018This is a brotherly affair\u2019. A clear demonstration of this is the uncle-nephew relationship between Ivorian legendary striker, Didier Drogba, and Nigeria\u2019s star striker, Victor Osimhen, both of whom have been seen, publicly fraternizing with each other<\/a> since the AFCON began.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n