On March 17, Caf, Africa’s football body, shamelessly stripped Senegal of its Afcon glory and instead cited some queer rules to declare Morocco the champions. This is perhaps the most ridiculous ruling I have heard from Caf, even when the body is not a stranger to weird application of rules of the game. In such an issue, especially when matters have been overtaken by events, only logic applies. Caf’s ruling is in many ways a damning indictment on the lack of unity amongst the continent’s football associations (FAs). For the record, the only FA I have followed on record to support Senegal is that of Algeria. Even regional blocks such as WAFU, Cecafa or even Cosafa remain mute. This literally means power is being consolidated at the top as regional football entities continue to lose relevance. For instance, today no country wants to host the Cecafa Cup. All this sits well with the top Caf organs, especially for the Caf president Patrice Motsepe, whose firm grip of the body increases by the year. HOW READY IS UGANDA TO CO-HOST AFCON? And, just last week, Caf released a damning assessment report of Uganda’s preparedness to co-host the 2027 Afcon. Anyone who knows the inner workings of the body knows this is just meant to push the co-hosts to speed up preparations. So, I have no doubt we will be ready, but at what cost? I am genuinely dreading of a situation where we sleep-walk into the tournament now that we are just 14 months away. The concern is not that we may not be ready to host the tournament, the worry is co-hosting just for the sake. For instance, we don’t seem to have a joint coordination team because even our co-hosts Kenya and Tanzania did not meet Caf expectations. It as though everyone is on their own. Granted, the key issue I wish have sorted is mass inclusiveness of the public. We may be ready with the infrastructure by June, 2027 when the tournament kicks off; but how we approach the roadmap is out utmost importance, especially in as a far as publicity. People such as Kin Karissa, Robert Kabushenga, Jimmy Spire Sentongo, Andrew Mwenda, Mike Mukula, Amos Wekesa, Godfrey Kirumira, Hamis Kiggundu and Emmanuel Katongole, among others, should have already been incorporated to promote the tournament. Each of them brings a unique aspect to the game. At the moment Afcon should be a song in schools to capture the attention of the youths. Football stakeholders may also need to tap into how Hellen Seku, the Commissioner, National Secretariat for Patriotism Corp, (NSPC). She is doing a great job on patriotism and our local Afcon team can pick a leaf from her. Lest I forget, how can an organizing committee without Dr Lawrence Mulindwa, the biggest investor in the game? We also have shrewd people like Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga, whose nod for the tournament can be the difference having 10,000 fans and 40,000 fans in the stadium. This is not rocket science. So, how can one convince me that it is okay that with 14 months to go, there is no single billboard on the roads to promote the tournament? Where is the Allan Okello poster for the tournament? At the moment, we should be seeing people putting on Afcon t-shirts to promote the tournament. There’s even no song yet about Afcon. How about we get to have legends to drive the show? What is so hard to get a person like Jackson Mayanja to mentor the midfielders or a figure like Ibrahim Kirya to handle the defenders? The main importance is not tactical or physical. It is emotional anchoring. A legend like Sadiq Wassa reminds a talented but sometimes fragile star like Ismail Watenga who they are, what they are capable of, and why it matters. For a team like The Cranes Uganda, that kind of mentoring can turn a good squad into a dangerous one. On the surface, this may seem uncoordinated but this can be a great part of the sensational promotion of the tournament. In all this, I have noted most of the effort has gone into meeting the standards but publicity and hype matter as much. That’s why some Afcon hosts have full capacity crowds and others host empty seats. We cannot afford the latter. Time is now to act before it is too late. The author is a football investor and SC Villa president emeritusThe post Let’s avoid sleepwalking into Afcon appeared first on The Observer.