President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
The President of the Coalition of Supporters Unions of Africa (COSUA), Lawyer Sarfo Abebrese has stated that in the view of his Pan African Organisation, President Obiang Mbasogo ‘ s bold decision to confront the Ebola scare by hosting the ongoing AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea has not only saved the AFCON itself, but the entire continent of Africa as a whole.
Sarfo Abebrese was speaking as a panelist on Equanoxe TV ‘s live sports programme on Thursday night, which was telecast on Canal TV throughout Africa and across the world.
The Ghanaian lawyer who is also an Attorney of the New York Supreme Court, explained that had Africa failed to host this year’s edition of the AFCON, it would have had a damning effect on Africa’s participation in future global sporting events like the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada and the Olympic Games in Brazil next year.
Sarfo Abebrese
According to Mr. Abebrese, the rest of the world would have had a perfect opportunity to exclude African fans, and even some participating teams from Africa, on the basis of Africa’s own exclusion of itself from its own AFCON because of the Ebola scare.
He praised President Mbasogo ‘ s “bold decision” to take on the Ebola scare when the rest of Africa had been cowed into submission, and said that Equatorial Guinea ‘ s sense of temerity has instilled in the rest of Africa a unique sense of confidence in the fight against Ebola.
He described President Obiang Mbasogo as a “true son of Africa who has demonstrated to us all that Ebola, like any of the problems bedevilling Africa, can be defeated only by confronting it headlong, and not by running away from it”.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Guide Sports soon after the programme, Sarfo Abebrese expressed regret that Ghana’s President John Mahama ‘ s well intended attempt at considering the bigger picture of Africa’s interest with a possible hosting of the AFCON in Ghana, was met with fierce resistance back home.
“If we Africans discriminate against one another on the basis of Ebola, how could we expect the Western world and Europe to welcome us with open arms into their countries to participate in sporting activities after we declined to host ours?”, he quizzed.
Mr. Abebrese said that his organisation, which operates with the mandate of the African Union to use sports to achieve African unity, currently covers 50 countries of Africa, and they would send a delegation of their top officials covering of all the sub regions of Africa, to pay a courtesy call on His Excellency President Mbasogo to express COSUA’ s formal appreciation soon after the AFCON.
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