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Introduction

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Football in Africa
Cameroon's Benoît Assou-Ekotto jostles for possession with Mustapha Allaoui of Morocco

Football is the most popular sport in Africa, alongside basketball. Indeed, football is probably the most popular sport in every African country, although rugby and cricket are also very popular in South Africa. The first football stadium to be built in Africa was the Alexandria Stadium in 1929.

The English Premier League is the most popular sports league in Africa. The most popular clubs in Africa are Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. (Full article...)

This section is an excerpt from Football in Africa § History.[edit]
Football was first introduced to Africa in the early 1860s by Europeans,[1] due to the colonisation of Africa. The first recorded games were played in South Africa in 1862 between soldiers and civil servants and there were no established rules for the game at this time;[2]" Initially, there were various forms of playing the game, which included elements of both rugby and soccer. It was not until October 26, 1863 that the "rules of association football were codified."[2] The first official football organization in Africa, Pietermaritzburg County Football Association, was established in 1880.Teams were being established in South Africa before 1900, Egypt and in Algeria during a similar time period. Savages FC (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), L'Oranaise Club (Oran, Algeria) and Gezira SC (Alexandria, Egypt) are the oldest African football clubs that remain in existence. The tree clubs began play in 1882, followed by Alexandria SC (1890), CDJ Oran from Algeria in 1894 and CAL Oran from Algeria too in 1897. By the 1930s, football was being played in Central Africa. In 1882, the first national governing body on the content was formed, South African Football Association (SAFA). SAFA was a whites-only association that became the first member of FIFA in South Africa in 1910.[2]
Egyptian Olympic football team, 1928
As Africa is a highly superstitious continent many African teams depend on witch doctors for success.[3][4][5][6][7] Activities that witch doctors have performed for teams include cutting players, placing potions on equipment, and sacrificing animals.[8]

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The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2009 and first announced in September 2007. The participating nations must consist of players playing in their national league competitions.

The DR Congo and Morocco are the most successful teams in this tournament with two titles each, followed by Tunisia, Libya and incumbent champions Senegal with one title each. The tournament began life in 2009 with 8 teams, which was doubled for the 2nd edition up until the 6th and is currently contested by 18 teams since the 2022 edition.

Since the 2014 edition, matches of every edition of this tournament from qualification to the final will be computed to calculate the forthcoming FIFA World Rankings following its conclusion, which CAF exclaimed at the time as an important step for the competition's development. At the time, FIFA considers the tournament friendly since it is restricted to players from local leagues to participate. The tournament is held biennially and alternates with the Africa Cup of Nations.

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McDonald Mariga with Inter Milan in 2010
McDonald Mariga is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. He began his playing career at Ulinzi Stars before moving first to Tusker and then to Kenya Pipeline while still at school. He moved to Sweden in 2005 to play for third Division side Enköpings SK. After only one season at ESK, he signed for Helsingborgs IF before the 2006 season. Following initial interest from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, Mariga looked set to sign for the Premier League team, but work permit issues held up the deal which was supposed to have cost around €2.7million.

Mariga moved to the Serie A club Parma initially on loan in August 2007. The Italian club had an option to buy him in the summer for a fee of 20 million Swedish kronor (around €2 million). Heagreed to a four-year deal to keep him at Serie A side Parma for four years until the end of June 2012, after the club paid a transfer fee for 18 million Swedish Kronor (approx. €1.94 million). In January 2010 he was set to sign for English Premier League club Manchester City, but failed to obtain a work permit. Had Mariga successfully signed for Manchester City, he would have been the first player from the East African country to sign for a club in the top English league - a milestone later achieved by his brother Victor Wanyama, upon his transfer to Southampton in July 2013.

On 1 February 2010, the last day of the transfer window, Mariga moved to Inter Milan in a co-ownership deal. Following the move, Inter president Massimo Moratti hailed Mariga's move as the "best thing that could have happened" to the club in the January transfer window. On 17 June 2010, Inter bought him outright and bought back Biabiany for a reported fee around €10 million. At the start of the 2011–12 season Mariga was loaned out to La Liga club Real Sociedad. It meant Inter had a non-EU transfer quota which they used on winter signing Juan and Fredy Guarín (the other quota was obtained from Philippe Coutinho). As Mariga was unable to return to Inter, he was loaned back to Parma instead for the 2012–13 season and he scored his only goal against Lazio. He returned to Inter Milan at the end of the season, and was released by the club in May 2014. He rejoined Parma on 4 September 2014 before being released after the club went bankrupt in March 2015 and joining Latina in January 2016. On 31 July 2017, Mariga signed a one-year deal with Spanish Segunda División club Real Oviedo.

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The Ghana national team of the 1960s poses with some trophies
The Ghana national team of the 1960s poses with some trophies
Credit: Yenkassa

Members of a 1960s Ghana national team pose with some of their trophies. The Ghana national team has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times, and is one of only three African teams to have ever reached the quarter-finals of a FIFA World Cup finals.

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Association football in Africa
Association football clubs in Africa
Association football competitions in Africa
Association football in Africa by country
Women's association football in Africa
African football by decade
African football by year
Seasons in African football
Football in Mayotte
Football in Réunion
Football in Saint Helena
Football in Zanzibar
Football academies in Africa
African footballers
Football at the Afro-Asian Games
African football trophies and awards
Football in North Africa
Futsal in Africa
Association football governing bodies in Africa
History of association football in Africa
Association football leagues in Africa
Association football matches in Africa
African national association football teams

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Sources

  1. ^ "The History Of Soccer In Africa". NPR.org. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  2. ^ a b c Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes. Ohio University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780896802780.
  3. ^ Frimpong, Enoch Darfah. "Ghana news: A world of superstition, frustration and disillusionment - Graphic Online". Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. ^ Lacey, Marc (8 August 2002). "Kangemi Journal; For Spellbinding Soccer, the Juju Man's on the Ball". The New York Times. NY Times. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  5. ^ "World Cup Witchcraft: Africa Teams Turn to Magic for Aid". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 10, 2006. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  6. ^ Andy Mitten (September 2010). The Rough Guide to Cult Football. Rough Guides UK. ISBN 9781405387965. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  7. ^ "African Nations Cup overshadowed by hocus pocus | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  8. ^ Kuper, Simon (2006). Soccer Against the Enemy: How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Stops Wars, Fuels Revolutions, and Keeps Dictators in Power. Nation Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-56025-878-0.
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