Gabon 2017 to feature fan parks

Football fans at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon will be able to watch matches at fan parks

The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations will feature fan parks for the first time, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has confirmed.

Gabon will host January’s finals, with the capital Libreville and Port Gentil set to stage fan parks, which were first introduced by Fifa for the 2006 World Cup.

Fan parks are areas where thousands of football supporters gather in an enclosed area to follow matches on big screens.

“We believe that Libreville and Port Gentil will be hosting,” Caf General Secretary Hicham El Amrani told BBC Sport.

“In terms of population numbers, these cities make sense. We want the festival atmosphere to be established there.”

African football’s ruling body had hoped to introduce fan parks for the 2015 finals.

But Caf scrapped the plans after Morocco was replaced as the host nation, because of fears over the potential spread of Ebola, just 64 days before the start of the finals.

A total of four Gabonese cities will be used for the 16-team competition, with Franceville and Oyem also scheduled to host matches.

But with local populations under 100,000, they will not stage fan …

continue reading in source www.bbc.co.uk