DCAS Hosts Street Football Festival in the Build-up to CHAN 2014

The CHAN Street Football Festival in Delft on Thursday, 9 January 2014 saw boys’ and girls’ football teams from 16 Western Cape communities competing in the colours of the 16 countries competing in the Orange African Nations Championship (CHAN).

 

Hosted by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS), the Festival was intended to mobilise community interest in CHAN 2014. The opening ceremony and first two matches of CHAN 2014 will take place at Cape Town Stadium on 11 January and the tournament runs until 1 February.  

 

Advocate Lyndon Bouah, Chief Director for Sport and Recreation at DCAS, welcomed the community teams, who came from as far as Atlantis and Hermanus. He emphasised the importance of investing in sport development. “One day, you too may be participating in big tournaments such as CHAN”, he said.

 

Jane Roberts, Chairperson of the Delft Street Soccer Association, said the festival would both mobilise interest in CHAN and promote the development of players at grassroots level. 

 

The boys’ competition was won by the team from KTC (representing Gabon), and the girls’ event was won by the team from Manenberg (representing Uganda). Second place in both the boys’ and girls’ events was claimed by teams from Nyanga East (representing Burundi). The girls’ team from Hermanus (Burkina Faso) and the boys’ team from Khayelitsha Site B (Ghana) came third. In addition to winning the girls’ competition, the team from Manenberg also claimed the Fair Play award and individual players won the Player of the Tournament, Top Goal Scorer and Top Goal Keeper awards for girls. 

 

The CHAN tournament is administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and is contested every two years by the best national teams of Africa. Most games will take place at Cape Town Stadium and Athlone Stadium, while a few matches will be played in Polokwane and Mangaung. 

 

Phase Two ticket sales have now begun with a 15% discount available on all tickets from R40 to R200.