The experts say football does repeat itself and this should be true. In 1984, Cote d’Ivoire hosted the 14th African Cup of Nations and performed so abysmally that gates had to open free of charge to attract fans including the final between Nigeria and Cameroon which Cameroon won.

Twenty five years later, 2009 to be precise, Cote d”Ivoire is hosting the maiden African Nations Championships and it is the same old story. The hosts have performed so poorly losing the first two preliminary matches to Zambia 3-0 and Tanzania 1-0 and it is obvious that attendance at the remaining matches would have to be free and get the crowd to give the competition any semblance of a continental tournament.

In any case, this poor patronage in Cote d’Ivoire is not peculiar to that country alone. It seems to be an African disease where fans are extremely selective in their patronage of matches, very much unlike Europe notably England where stadiums are almost always filled to capacity. I have always wondered whether the Africa Champions League final could ever be well patronized on a neutral ground like we had in Europe last year when two English clubs Manchester United and Chelsea, met in the final in Russia.

I am inclined to believe that football fans outside Africa regard overseas matches as a sort of tourist attraction unlike those of us on this part of the globe where presumably because of poverty, supporters had to be sponsored as a group to travel abroad to watch games. It is however my hope that South Africans will prove to be an exception and patronize in full all matches in the 2010 World Cup and prove to the world that we Africans appreciate the other aspects of football organization.

Back to the African Nations Championships in Cote d’Ivoire, I would like to plead with Ivorian fans to be good hosts and be proud of attracting seven African countries to visit their beautiful country that has been able to patch up after a terrible domestic war that threatened to tear the country apart.

The standard of play so far has been quite high. All the teams have unearthed a lot of talented players and this should give the Confederation of African Football (CAF) satisfaction that the purpose of giving the home based talented players international exposure has been worthwhile.

Rahim Ayew

Ghanaians for example would have a lot to talk about their new found striker Rahim Ayew of Sekondi Eleven Wise who scored both goals in Ghana’s 2-2 draw with Zimbabwe. Rahim is the first son of football legend Abedi Pele and elder brother of Andre Ayew of Black Satellites fame. Some would say he is a chip off the old block.

The young man has been around for some time but Cote d’Ivoire has given him a wider exposure and if he continues to shine he could be on his way to stardom. Incidentally, Rahim’s goals that earned Ghana a point can be likened to Andre’s equaliser against Cameroon in the recent African Youth Championship in Rwanda that also gave Ghana a valuable point.

The Satellites made an amazing recovery after the rather shaky start in Rwanda and ultimately went on to win the cup. Can the home based Black Stars emulate this fine example?

Well, do you believe that history repeats itself in football?

Let’s wait and see.