AFCON criticism has turned into praise – CAF General Secretary

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Kick and Learn school initiative in the main host city Abidjan, the veteran administrator reiterated the words of president Patrice Motsepe that the ongoing showpiece will be the best yet.

Mosengo-Omba reflected on the first two weeks.

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"The competition so far is one of the best organised, you know we get critisised all the time about infrastructure, the referees, the play on the ground but all this criticism now is the contrary. My friend from London for example, [we] broadcast [in] about 150 countries [for this] AFCON. He called me this morning and said 'Incredible, we are watching on the BBC, Sky [Sports], they are broadcasting all the games, televising all the games, the first time the commentator is not saying anything negative," Mosengo-Omba said.

With the top five FIFA-ranked national teams packing their bags early, the CAF General Secretary believes it’s proof the gap is closing.

"So, this shows that the level of refereeing, the level of the playing is incredible. You can see even the so-called big nations of football, now the so-called small [footballing countries] demonstrated that the gap between the big and the small is non-existent now," Mosengo-Omba added.

Mosengo-Omba also gave credit to the world football governing body FIFA for the funds distributed to member associations, enabling them to hire quality coaches and make whatever adjustments to be able to compete at the highest level.

"This is the work of the small countries focusing on development with the assistance of their country, the assistant of FIFA Forward, we have to be honest about that. FIFA Forward put a lot of means for them to develop, to pay coaches, to pay [for] equipment and also since president [Patrice] Motsepe arrived, it tripled the funds for the clubs and also the member associations. This is the result of the World Cup developments."