Uncertainty hangs over twice-postponed African Cup of Nations hockey

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the 10th men’s and 7th women’s African Cup of Nations hockey tournaments, which are being postponed again owing to security concerns over the Westgate mall terror attack in Kenya – the host nation.

The 10th men’s and 7th women’s African Cup of Nations tournament was originally scheduled to be held at the City Park Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya from September 26 to October 6. But the September 23rd Westgate mall terror strike compelled the organizers – the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) – who are staging the event under the auspices of the African Hockey Federation, to put off the event

The premier continental hockey tournament was slated to begin from October 1, but the event was put off again by the organizers with no new dates being announced.

The tournament has run into rough weather ever before the first hooter was blown. It is significant to mention that Kenya had stepped in to host the tourney after the African Hockey Federation allotted the event to Egypt, who withdrew their candidature on account of political tensions in the country. In fact, Kenya along with South Africa were kept as standbys.

The tournaments will afford an opportunity for hockey playing nations from Africa to seal the elusive spot for the 2014 World Cup to be held in the Hague, the Netherlands from the African continent.

It is learnt that Tanzania has been the only team to arrive in Nairobi when the postponement was announced. The Kenyan Hockey Union is yet to spell out their future course of action, but they did intimate that two teams have not been granted permission by their respective governments to travel to Nairobi for the event.

South Africa have been dominating the men’s African Cup of Nations for a long while now. They have won this event for the six consecutive times since cornering glory in the 1993 edition in Nairobi.

In the women’s section, South Africa have also held sway, winning the championship for six consecutive times with Zimbabwe winning it once.

Kenya is hosting the African Cup of Nations for the second time. The African country earlier hosted it in 1993.

This is the second biggest hockey event the country is hosting – they earlier staged the 2007 Olympic qualifiers.

The inaugural men’s African Cup of Nations was held in Cairo, Egypt, where Ghana won the crown. The inaugural women’s African Cup of Nations was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, where the host nation annexed the title.

The last African Cup of Nations was held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where South Africa pipped Egypt by a solitary goal to take the men’s crown, while their women crushed Kenya 5-0 lay their hands on the winning trophy.

Both the men’s and women’s African Cup of Nations tourneys is held every two years since 2005. Prior to 2005, the event did not follow a stipulated time-frame and used to be held every three, four, five years or even more.