World Cup 2022: African teams ‘can excel’ in Qatar,
says Roger Milla
World Cup 2022 Qatar
African football legend Roger Milla believes sides from the continent can excel at the upcoming World Cup finals in Qatar as long as they have genuine self-confidence and belief.
Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia will join African champions Senegal at the tournament, which will take place in the Arab world for the first time.
The action gets under way on 20 November when the hosts play Ecuador, with the final on 18 December.
“Now is a good time to show that Africa has the best football players and the best teams in the world,” the 70-year-old told BBC Sport Africa.
“We have to make our players understand that we can compete with the biggest teams. We have everything to compete with them.
“It’s up to us to get to work. We struggled for a few years but I’ve seen African football develop a lot. Now it’s time and we will see in Qatar.”
Former Cameroon striker Milla featured in three World Cups, rising to global fame at the 1990 finals in Italy when he scored four goals at the age of 38 to help his country become the first African side to reach the quarter-finals.
Senegal and Ghana matched that feat in the 2002 and 2010 World Cup tournaments respectively.
The last eight is the furthest any African team has gone and Milla thinks that landmark can be bettered, even if he admits it will be tough to lift the trophy itself.
“We are a continent blessed with great footballers – we can go further than the quarter-finals. But I’ve always said that for an African country to win the World Cup, it’s hard work first of all [that is needed].
“It’s discipline and organisation. If we look at other countries today, we are at their level in football but we now have to be well-organised [too].
“I am very happy that Cameroon led the way and showed the world that Africa has teams that can compete with the greatest in the world.
“It’s not just Cameroon, Senegal or Ghana – there are other countries that can represent our continent proudly.”
Senegal, who won this year’s Africa Cup of Nations and feature Ballon d’Or runner-up Sadio Mane, face hosts Qatar, the Netherlands and Ecuador in Group A while Tunisia will take on defending champions France, Denmark and Australia in Group D.
Morocco’s Atlas Lions have been drawn with 2018 runners-up Croatia, Belgium and Canada while Cameroon will play five-time winners Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland.
Ghana, the lowest-ranked side at the finals at 61st in the world, compete against Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay – the team that prevented them from becoming the first African side to reach the World Cup semi-final stage at the 2010 finals in South Africa.
Dancing his way to history
Roger Milla is the oldest goalscorer and oldest outfield player in World Cup finals history
Milla gained global recognition and entered the World Cup’s history books with his feats at the 1990 finals in Italy, where he scored four goals as Cameroon reached the last eight.
Aged 38, he netted two goals against Romania in a 2-1 win in the group stage, and followed it up with another remarkable two goals against Colombia in extra-time in the round of 16 to progress to the quarter-final where they lost to England 3-2, again after an added 30 minutes.
“I wanted to take Cameroon as far as possible in the World Cup. We could have gone even further in the competition but that’s how football works,” Milla said.
“I was just doing my job, a citizen’s job, an African footballer’s job. I tried to honour the African continent, Cameroon and its people.
“I wanted to make sure that for the next World Cup, the other countries know that there is a country to count on and that country is Cameroon.”
While becoming the oldest goalscorer in the tournament’s history in 1994, when netting against Russia, Milla also caught the eye in 1990 with his memorable goal celebrations, running to the corner flag where he performed a dance.
His inclusion in the Indomitable Lions’ squad for the Italy-based finals was a result of a last-minute request from Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who coaxed him out of international retirement.
“With the dance, I didn’t plan it. I wanted to dance with the fans and with the people who supported me,” Milla said.
“I was 38 years old. This is an age at which players today can no longer play football so I wanted to celebrate with people who encouraged me, and especially President Biya.
“He picked me to be with my fellow citizens, with my brothers. I imagined this dance during the game just for fun, for everyone, for Cameroon and for all the footballers and football lovers.”
People know Milla ‘did wonders’
Milla had made his World Cup debut in 1982 in Spain, in Cameroon’s first ever appearance at the finals, where the central Africans went out in the group stage after drawing games against Peru, Poland and Italy.
After his heroics in 1990, he scored a consolation goal in the 6-1 defeat at the hands of Russia at the 1994 World Cup, extending his record as the oldest goalscorer at the finals.
That appearance in the United States, aged 42 years and 39 days, also made him the oldest outfield player to appear at the tournament.
Although Milla declines to pick one moment as his favourite at the tournament, he knows his achievements have sealed his place in football history.
“My best memory is playing in all those World Cups – all these moments accelerated my progression in football,” he said.
“Those moments also showed not only the people of Cameroon but all the African people that there was a certain player called Roger Milla in Cameroon at the time, and he did wonders.
“The footage is there to tell that I served football.
“Kids who will be born maybe 10 years from now will know that there was a footballer in Cameroon called Roger Milla.”
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Air Tanzania Banned From EU Airspace Due to Safety Concerns
Several airports have since locked Air Tanzania, dealing a severe blow to the Tanzanian national carrier that must now work overtime to regain its certification or go the wet lease way
The European Commission has announced the inclusion of Air Tanzania on the EU Air Safety List, effectively banning the airline from operating in European airspace.
The decision, made public on December 16, 2024, is based on safety concerns identified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which also led to the denial of Air Tanzania’s application for a Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation.
The Commission did not go into the specifics of the safety infringement but industry experts suggest it is possible that the airline could have flown its Airbus A220 well past its scheduled major checks, thus violating the airworthiness directives.
“The decision to include Air Tanzania in the EU Air Safety List underscores our unwavering commitment to ensuring the highest safety standards for passengers in Europe and worldwide,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.
“We strongly urge Air Tanzania to take swift and decisive action to address these safety issues. I have offered the Commission’s assistance to the Tanzanian authorities in enhancing Air Tanzania’s safety performance and achieving full compliance with international aviation standards.”
Air Tanzania has a mixed fleet of modern aircraft types including Boeing 787s, 737 Max jets, and Airbus A220s.
It has been flying the B787 Dreamliner to European destinations like Frankfurt in Germany and Athens in Greece and was looking to add London to its growing list with the A220.
But the ban not only scuppers the London dream but also has seen immediate ripple effect, with several airports – including regional like Kigali and continental – locking out Air Tanzania.
Tanzania operates KLM alongside the national carrier.
The European Commission said Air Tanzania may be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with.
A wet lease is where an airline pays to use an aircraft with a crew, fuel, and insurance all provided by the leasing company at a fee.
Two more to the list
The EU Air Safety List, maintained to ensure passenger safety, is updated periodically based on recommendations from the EU Air Safety Committee.
The latest revision, which followed a meeting of aviation safety experts in Brussels from November 19 to 21, 2024, now includes 129 airlines.
Of these, 100 are certified in 15 states where aviation oversight is deemed insufficient, and 29 are individual airlines with significant safety deficiencies.
Alongside Air Tanzania, other banned carriers include Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe), Avior Airlines (Venezuela), and Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran).
Commenting on the broader implications of the list, Tzitzikostas stated, “Our priority remains the safety of every traveler who relies on air transport. We urge all affected airlines to take these bans seriously and work collaboratively with international bodies to resolve the identified issues.”
In a positive development, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been cleared to resume operations in the EU following a four-year suspension. The ban, which began in 2020, was lifted after substantial improvements in safety performance and oversight by PIA and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).
“Since the TCO Authorisation was suspended, PIA and PCAA have made remarkable progress in enhancing safety standards,” noted Tzitzikostas. “This demonstrates that safety issues can be resolved through determination and cooperation.”
Another Pakistani airline, Airblue Limited, has also received EASA’s TCO authorisation.
Decisions to include or exclude airlines from the EU Air Safety List are based on rigorous evaluations of international safety standards, particularly those established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
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The process involves thorough review and consultation among EU Member State aviation safety experts, with oversight from the European Commission and support from EASA.
“Where an airline currently on the list believes it complies with the required safety standards, it can request a reassessment,” explained Tzitzikostas. “Our goal is not to penalize but to ensure safety compliance globally.”
Airlines listed on the EU Air Safety List face significant challenges to their international operations, as the bans highlight shortcomings in safety oversight by their home regulatory authorities.
For Air Tanzania, this inclusion signals an urgent need for reform within Tanzania’s aviation sector to address these deficiencies and align with global standards.
The path forward will require immediate and sustained efforts to rectify safety concerns and regain access to one of the world’s most critical aviation markets.
Source: allafrica.com
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Africa: Rwanda Gets a Grip Of Marburg, But Mpox ‘Not Yet Under Control’
Monrovia — The Rwanda Minister of State responsible for Health, Dr. Yvan Butera, cautioned that while the country is beginning to see positive signals in its fight against the Marburg virus, the outbreak is “not yet over”. He, however, expressed hope that “we are headed in that direction”. The minister said the epidemiology trend, since the disease was first discovered in the country more than a month ago, is moving towards fewer cases.
Dr. Butera, who was giving updates during an online briefing yesterday, said in the past two weeks, only two deaths were recorded while 14 people recovered from the disease. He said Rwanda was expanding its testing capacity with 16,000 people already inoculated against the disease.
The priority right now, Butera said, is “rapid testing and detection”.
Marburg is a highly virulent disease transmitted through human-to-human contact or contact with an infected animal. The fatality rate of cases, which has varied over the period, is more than 50%, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said the highest number of new confirmed cases in Rwanda were reported in the first two weeks of the outbreak. There’s been a “sharp decline” in the last few weeks, with the country now tackling over 60 cases.
At Thursday’s briefing, a senior official of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, said mpox – the other infectious disease outbreak that countries in the region are fighting – was been reported in 19 countries, with Mauritius being the latest country to confirm a case. He said although no new cases have been recorded in recent weeks in several countries where outbreaks occurred previously – including Cameroon, South Africa, Guinea, and Gabon – Uganda confirmed its first Mpox death. This, he said, is one of two fatalities reported outside Central Africa.
Dr. Ngashi revealed that there was an increase in cases in Liberia and Uganda. He said mpox cases were still on an upward trend.
“The situation is not yet under control.”
Source: allafrica.com
