Cup of Nations Getting too Big?

This, an important read from our 'Eyes and Ears' in Africa, the acclaimed football journalist Mark Gleeson of Reuters.

Is the Cup getting too big? Mr. Gleeson, who is there covering the event, thinks so.

The African Nations Cup is growing too big for its own good, if the chaos surrounding the organisation in Ghana at the start of this year’s event is anything to go by.

With a larger cast of internationally recognisable stars and the teams improving in quality, the Nations Cup is now much more than just Africa’s premier sporting event; it commands considerable interest worldwide. The supporting cast around the event gets larger with each passing edition — the officials, the supporters, the journalists, the agents and those with commercial interest in Africa’s top event.

The title sponsors alone had 1,700 guests for the opening match, several hundred flown in from other African countries. The media numbers have now passed the 1,000 accreditation mark and the phalanx of agents and business people now dealing in the African game seemingly doubles with every tournament.

Have a read at the entire article here.

It's quite eye-opening.