“The fans came back to the stadiums for the first time in nearly four years,” says Naïr Abakar, the vice-president of the Chadian Football Association (FTFA) with immense pride. “It means so much to people here.”
The landlocked country in central Africa dominated by the vast Sahara desert in its north has never qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations and is hardly renowned for its footballing pedigree. That could be about to change, however, thanks in part to the efforts of Abakar – a 31-year-old who was born in Paris to Chadian parents before moving to their homeland six years ago “to help my country and give it some new spirit”.
