Journalist Suzanne Kala-Lobe says Ivory Coast “bought” AFCON victory

Veteran journalist Suzanne Kala-Lobe has said Ivory Coast’s victory at the AFCON 2023 was bought.

She accused President Alassane Ouattara of influencing the outcome. In her response during an interview on Dash TV, Suzanne Kala-Lobe said everything was orchestrated in favour of the hosts.

“I asked myself that how does a team that comes that far go that far if there was no social, economic and political mechanism of control. And I told myself that Ouattara could not let the AFCON go” the journalist indicated.

“I started doubting when I saw Ivory Coast advancing either after prolongations or penalty shootouts” she said. “It made me curious. It did not just happen once, but in a systematic manner. It made me recall the 1978 World Cup with Argentina, where we realised that football is not simply as it is, that it’s not just about sports. We realised that a player can play poorly deliberately. It’s a business.”

Kala-Lobe, 71, added that “We cannot underestimate Ouattara, because he is one of the biggest politicians on the African continent.”

“In this AFCON, there were interests of money, there were interests for the political, economic, and financial control of the Sahel” she noted.

The veteran journalist said it was very obvious for someone in that position as a president. “If I were the Head of State in that position, I’m not sure that I would have let the AFCON go” she said, pointing out that “we need to open the eyes of the world, that everything is not just simple.”

The 34th AFCON was full of surprises, with underdogs like Mozambique, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea and Angola stunning powerhouses like Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Tunisia and Algeria.

The biggest of the surprises was Ivory Coast’s win in the final after advancing from the group stage as one of the best third-place teams.