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It’s a water story. Too much water, which could “spoil” the party. The next edition of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) is supposed to be held in Côte d’Ivoire in a little less than a year, from June 23 to July 23, 2023. In other words, in the middle of the rainy season which is extends from April to early July, according to the Ivorian weather agency Sodexam.
During this period, it can fall in the south-east of the country – where Abidjan and two of the six stadiums selected for the competition are located – up to 640 mm of precipitation, the equivalent of a year of rain in Paris. “This is the climatological normal over the last thirty years”, explains Daouda Konaté, director of meteorology at Sodexam. For 2022, the normal has been largely exceeded.
“According to our data, it has already rained 903 mm from April to June in Abidjan, even though the rainy season is not yet over”specifies Anthony Mocaër, head of HD Rain Côte d’Ivoire, a French start-up, specialist in weather forecasts which collaborates with Sodexam.
Torrents of water have thus fallen on the Ivorian economic capital in recent days: Tuesday, June 21, several people died in floods after several hours of deluge. That night, the city recorded almost 200 mm of precipitation.
No need to argue
Faced with the risk of playing matches on lawns transformed into a pond, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is studying the possibility of shifting its competition during the dry season, to December 2023 or January 2024. We are considering it, it is one of the possibilitiesrecognizes Veron Mosengo-Omba, its secretary general, in an interview with World Africa. We asked Ivorian meteorologists to report to us on the history of rainfall in Côte d’Ivoire in June and July, but also to share their projections with us. »
In Abidjan, this news does not surprise the president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF), Yacine Idriss Diallo, and even less Essan Emile Ngoran, deputy executive director of the Organizing Committee of the African Cup of Nations (Cocan). . For them, there is no need to argue. “CAF did not ask us, but whatever their decision, we will apply it, it is their competition. We are not opposed [à un changement de dates] »says Mr. Diallo.
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