Angola on track to host African Nations Cup – CAF

Angola will be ready in time for the 2010 African Nations Cup, the continent’s top footballing boss said on Tuesday, at the end of a six-day visit to the host country.

Issa Hayatou, president of the African Confederation of Football (CAF), told reporters as he was leaving Fourth de Fevereiro Airport in Angola’s Luanda that he was optimistic that everything would be ready.

“Almost everything is done, I believe that in the six months that remain, everything will be ready. We are leaving here with a good impression at all levels,” he said.

Angola is spending an estimated 1billion dollars in preparation for CAN 2010 and is building four new stadiums from scratch in Luanda, Cabinda, Lubango and Benguela, as well as creating training pitches and support sites.

The southern African nation, which spent three decades fighting a bloody civil war that only ended in 2002, is using the competition as a springboard for the country’s much-needed physical and logistical reconstruction where two thirds of people live on less than two dollars a day.

Apart from the stadiums, built by Chinese companies, a large tranche of the investment is in revamping airports to help teams and fans coming into and travelling around the country.

High costs due to a reliance on imported goods and a lack of services, such as 250 dollars for a basic hotel room, are likely to put off many visitors who will be saving their cash for South Africa’s World Cup later in the year.

And obtaining visas for the Portuguese-speaking country can also be a long and complicated process and there are regular raids by immigration police arresting people without the correct paperwork.

However, sports minister Goncalves Muandumba who met Hayatou this week, gave a public assurance there would be no problems in getting visas for January.

“We just need for people and groups to get organised and co-operate,” he said.