Ivory Coast and Mali: Ivorian authorities have been praised for their calls for calm ahead of the AFCON match
Ivory Coast, the host country of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations, faces Mali on Saturday, February 3, 2024, for the quarter-finals at the Stade de la Paix in Bouaké. Well before this match, Ivorian authorities organized several awareness campaigns for Ivorian supporters to prevent potential disturbances during this confrontation.
With a megaphone in hand, the Police Commissioner of the city of Adjamé, Ivory Coast, delivers a message of awareness to Ivorian supporters. Combining local and French languages, the police convey a message of peace and urge supporters to act responsibly. « The AFCON is a sports competition. If Mali wins, they win. If Ivory Coast wins, we win. It’s football », says the Commissioner of Police of Adjamé to the supporters.
Such awareness-raising actions are of paramount importance, especially after the episode of « hateful » remarks observed a week ago between Elephants and Eagles supporters.
The initiative of the Ivorian police authorities is commendable, as it will help prevent potential divisions between Ivorian and Malian supporters and revive the spirit of fair play.
While hoping that this message is widely disseminated on social networks to reach more supporters, we give a green card to the police authorities of the city of Adjamé and the entire Ivory Coast.
