Equatorial Guinea invest in football future

The Equatorial Guinea government has injected 1.2 million euros into domestic football following on from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

The government kept its promise to reinvest money from the continental tournament back into the sport at the grassroots level as Equatorial Guinea tries to improve the standard of its domestic competition in order to compete with their larger neighbours.

“This amount will be equally shared among the 12 D1 clubs, with part of it covering transportation, feeding, health insurance and accommodation of players,” David Monsuy, media officer of the FA, told reporters in Bata.

“It is a sign that our government is leaving no stone unturned to promote and develop our football from the grassroots, especially after the eye-opening 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.”

The domestic league of the central African nation is deemed substandard compared to those of its neighbours Cameroon and Gabon.

Three-time champions Sony de Ella Nguema were knocked out of the ongoing CAF Champions League during the preliminaries, while the country’s representative in the Confederation Cup, Atletico Semu, could not progress from the preliminary stage as well.