The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations holding in Cote d’Ivoire next month may set media attendance record. According to figures released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the organising football body received over 5,000 applications for media accreditation.
This according to the body is more than 90% compared with the application for the last edition in Cameroon.
The media accreditation process closed on 24 November 2023. By then, there had been applications from media men from over 70 countries. The figure, according to CAF, is unprecedented.
As a result of the high demand, a quota system had to be applied for all the countries due to space demands. Consequently, Cote d’Ivoire as the hosts were allocated 30% of media accreditation.
Nigeria and the other 23 qualified countries have 35% of the media slots. There is also regional consideration as 10% was allocated to neighbouring countries, possibly those that did not qualify for the biggest football festival in Africa.
Those may include Liberia and Sierra Leone as other countries that share borders with Cote d’Ivoire qualified. The rest of the world is allocated 25% with priority being given to news agencies.
