Sitting in a hotel a stone's throw away from the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Yacine Idriss Diallo is in a good mood when addressing the preparations for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
AFCON 2023 kicks off on January 13th, 2024, almost a decade on from the announcement that Ivory Coast would be the hosts of the continent's flagship football tournament. And Diallo believes everything is in place in terms of preparations.
"This event means a lot of things for our country, it’s a very important event," he tells FourFourTwo. "Since 2014, when it was decided that Ivory Coast would organise this competition, our country put in a lot of money. But more than money, we put our heart in this organisation. And now I can say that we're ready. We're really ready. I can say that."
Why is this competition so important for your country?
"Because our country comes from very far. Ten years ago, it was tough here. And now here we are. You see the country, very quiet and peaceful. Everybody is working hard and we came back to the international area. Now, Ivory Coast will be the centre of Africa and the centre of the world; the football world at this time in Africa. So it's very important for us to organise everything very well and receive all the people coming from all the world and show them the hospitality of our country."
You were elected president of the federation in 2022 ahead of Didier Drogba. Having previously served as a board member and vice-president, initiating sponsorships deals, what did you learn about that period which could be useful now?
"I learned that you need money to do good things. And the sponsors are the people you have to have with you. As I had good experiences with those people, as soon as I came back, they came back with me. I have a lot of people which are helping us now. Even today I have to sign a new contract with a sponsor. So we are working hard, to bring in sponsors and help the country.
"We have a lot of sponsors who trust us and who help us. So, we hope that we'll have a very good participation in the AFCON, that will help more to go far, because, our national team is top. But the most important is the local players. We need to have enough money, to help local players and local teams. Because not all the players can go to Europe. They need to have good organisation, good fields, like we will have now in the stadiums. We need to have enough money to pay them in the system. I would like it to be like England. I saw the last contract they signed with TV rights. This is something incredible! But we are at a very small level and the sponsors are very important for us."
You were also vide-president of ASEC Mimosas for many years, the club which won the most league titles and also produced players like the Kalou and Touré brothers. What did you learn from that time?
"The most important is to have a very clear plan and stay straight to your plan. And to have a youth academy, it's very, very important. It's from the academy that you can build good things. We are trying to do our best with the whole country. So we shouldn’t only stay in Abidjan [economic capital of the Ivory Coast]. We have to go inside the country, you know, to check and to search good players.
"You were talking about Kalou, he is coming from a small part of the country. You have a lot of people like that. There is a player now in France, [Wilfried] Singo who is playing in Monaco. Singo is coming from a small team [Denguélé], which was in Odienné, very far [from Abidjan]. There is now a player in Brighton, his name is [Simon] Adingra, a young guy who also comes from a place far from here. So we need to go into the country, give opportunity to those young people to play and come at the top level for the team."
Ivory Coast has five players in England. Do you expect them all to come to this tournament and do you understand the clubs are not eager to let their players depart halfway through the season?
"Yeah, I do understand the mindset of the clubs. I respect that because the club are paying the players. But, you know, this tournament is very important for all African nations. And honestly, we expect all our players to be there. Six months ago, CAF met with the ECA, the group of clubs in Europe, to explain them why it is so important. And I think they found an agreement with ECA about this competition. We hope that all our players will be involved in the competition. And it's the same thing for all the other African nations."
After organising the AFCON, do you think that West African nations could bring the World Cup to this region in the future?
"I think it will be possible. You have 48 teams for the World Cup now, no country in the world will be able to organise it alone now. It's impossible. The next one will be in the US, Mexico and Canada and then it will be Portugal, Spain, Morocco and several South American countries. The one after is in Saudi Arabia, but I think they will not be able to organize only in Saudi Arabia."
"I think for Africa it could be a good opportunity to have a part of the World Cup. With 48 teams in 12 groups, you can have six groups in Africa, like in South Africa, in North Africa, in West Africa, you know. We will be able to do that. We have to work with like Europe or with another continent. It's a good opportunity for Africa. I think after Saudi Arabia, the next World Cup, we can have good candidates from Africa. Not one country, but the continent."
Do you think it could be an option for 2038?
"Yeah, maybe, but we need to have a real strategy from CAF. Not only from the countries, but from the CAF as well, I think they have to lead this strategy. So, let’s say for example, Morocco can have one or two groups, Ivory Coast can have one group, we can have one group in South Africa and we can have one group in another part. So, we can have like four or six groups in Africa. But we would need a strategy from CAF and another regional association."
How do rate Ivory Coast's chances in AFCON?
"I trust our team, but we know that we are not favourite. The favourites are Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, all those teams. We're building a new team. If you see our team now, I think 30% are very young, it's their first competition. But we will try to bring a very good squad to be ready. So we will try to do our best to go as far as possible and try to win the trophy. This is why we are here.
And in terms of the organisation and preparations of the tournament, are you feeling relaxed?
"I feel confident, but I don't feel relaxed. I feel confident because we work hard and we try to be ready. But, you know, as I'm a perfectionist, I want to be sure that everything is in the detail. So you can't be relaxed until you finish the competition. At the end of the competition, on the 11th of February I will tell you that: Now, I feel relaxed. But before that, impossible!"
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