What is the African Championship of Nations; and how is it different from the African Nations Cup?

When Cameroon lost to Egypt in the 2008 African Nations Cup final, manager Otto Pfister had just one African-based player in his 23-man squad. That player, Mbarga Javier, was the third-choice goalkeeper. The other 21 had been assembled from throughout Europe and the Middle East. Given that home-based players had little chance of usurping roster spots from high-profile mercenaries such as Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, and Samuel Eto’o, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) unveiled the African Championship of Nations in September, 2007.

The newly-struck competition will be held every two years – alternating with the African Nations Cup. Only African-based players will be entitled to participate, however; and eligibility will determined by a player’s commitment to spend the entire season at his domestic club.

Ivory Coast will host the inaugural Championship between February 22 and March 8, 2009. Eight nations will have qualified for the finals through six, regional zones – ensuring a geographical presence for each corner of the continent. Two teams will emerge from the South Zone, which includes the likes of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa.

The winners of the remaining five Zones will advance to the final tournament along with the host nation. West Africa will produce two participants, however, as the area is divided into West Zone A, consisting of Guinea, Mali, and Senegal, and West Zone B, which features Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. The East Zone is likely to produce a winner out of favorites Djibouti and Sudan while Cameroon will have to completely overhaul its squad in order to contend with Congo and Chad in the Central Zone. Current African champions Egypt are joined in the North Zone by Morocco and Tunisia.

While the African Championship of Nations will be a grassroots celebration of African football, there is an unfortunate, cynical downside as well. More than on any other continent, Africa’s young players are at the mercy of rogue scouts and crooked agents. In fact, their futures are often tied to the foreign envoys which pillage and trade young talent as if it was a commodity.

This competition will be the perfect venue for scouts and agents to connect with desperate youngsters. For a minimal fee – sometimes as little as the promise of food, shelter, and a chance with a big, European club – they can acquire a player’s rights and cash-in on their asset upon arranging a lucrative transfer after one or two seasons. Essien, Drogba, and Eto’o are three of the few success stories. Far more of their countrymen are uprooted from their homes in exchange for small, play-as-you-go contracts in Russia or Ukraine.

Additionally, the African Championship of Nations will be unlikely to generate any media interest in either Europe or the Americas. The lack of marquee names will surely keep the networks from investing in an organic, first-time event – a reality which will play directly into the hands of anyone hoping to do some shady business in Abidjan next February.

Make no mistake, the football will be attractive, spontaneous and delightful and the crowds vibrant and colorful. But there is bound to be an underside to this tournament which will almost certainly go unreported. Enjoy the matches if you can. Although you may have to plug your nose in doing so.

Who will win the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup?

Having determined the CONCACAF club champion since Chivas de Guadalajara defeated CSD Comunicaciones 6-0 over two legs in 1962, this competition will be put to bed when Pachuca and Deportivo Saprissa contest the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup between April 23 and April 30, 2008.

Pachuca, the holders, will have the advantage of playing the final match at Estadio Hidalgo. They have won the past two Clausura titles and also claimed last year’s Superliga crown. Saprissa, however, are on a better run of domestic form and overcame a high-octane DC United squad to book a place in the final. The Costa Ricans should be slightly favored to hoist a fourth continental championship.

Currently atop the Primera Division with nine wins and 28-points from 12-matches, Saprissa’s 3-1 loss at home to Universidad on Saturday was their first defeat in the league since falling 2-1 to Cartagines on November 25. In between, they went unbeaten in 12 – the only blemish being a 2-1 loss to Atlante in the Champions’ Cup on March 13.

Armando Alonso leads El Monstruo Morado with three-goals in the competition while Alejandro Alpizar has tallied four times in the league. Keylor Navas, the club’s 22-year-old goalkeeper, backstopped Saprissa to its last continental title in 2005 and has kept 11-clean sheets in the Primera Division this term.

Will the boardroom turmoil at Liverpool come to an end anytime soon?

It is not outside the realm of possibility that Liverpool could win the European Cup in May and be sold just weeks later. It is, for that matter, a likelihood which probably hasn’t been lost on Tom Hicks. The Texas billionaire, after all, purchased the club in tandem with George Gillett Jr. for £218million just 14-months ago. A sale to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his Dubai International Capital (DIC) consortium would easily meet or exceed over double that amount. Not a bad piece of business for the Americans.

So goes the conventional wisdom. There is nothing conventional, however, about the way Hicks conducts his business. He might have sealed the Dubai deal last month had he not been intent on blocking Gillett from having any part in the transaction. Barely a year after their unlikely marriage at Anfield, Hicks and Gillett are headed toward a nasty divorce.

It’s a pity, really. Gillett is a sound businessman, a solid individual, and a genuine stakeholder in the well-being of Liverpool Football Club. He is frank, honest – an all-around stand-up guy. On his own, he would make a terrific owner.

Hicks, by comparison, is brash, arrogant, and disrespectful. He has no sense, whatsoever, of European football and lacks any dose of appreciation for the club he purchased in February, 2007. His gaffes have been many and high-profile. In revealing that he had interviewed Jurgen Klinsmann for the managerial position, he embarrassed co-owner Gillett and stabbed current boss Rafael Benitez in the back. Then, when Gillett denounced his actions in the press, he attempted to sack chief executive Rick Parry from the board of directors. Parry, who has tried to mediate the ongoing feud, was instrumental in luring Gillett to the table in December, 2006 when DIC was the only interested buyer. Gillett, in turn, brought Hicks into the game for additional financial backing.

Unfortunately for Liverpool supporters, Hicks is as stubborn as they get and appears to have dug his heels in on any sale to DIC. Granted, he may be posturing for a better deal – a deal which would be unlikely to get any sweeter than on the heels of a sixth Champions’ League triumph. In any case, the fans want him out; and they want him out now. And given that he stands to make almost 130% on his original investment, his motives for staying remain unclear.

That said, any prediction for a resolution would be meaningless at this point. Hicks and Gillett are not on speaking terms, Hicks and Parry are not on speaking terms, and Hicks and DIC are not on speaking terms. The only person who knows the end game, it seems, is Hicks.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters is a football journalist based in Winnipeg, Canada and a correspondent for Soccer365.com. His weekly column for the Winnipeg Free Press is the largest of its kind in the country. A regular contributor to ESPN Soccernet, his work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.