The ascent was meteoric. Three years ago, in 2019, summer was punctuated by the launch of the neighborhood CAN in France. While the real African Cup of Nations was taking place in Egypt, dozens of similar tournaments, with teams from each community, had taken place all over France. The success had been immediate, also well helped by certain professional players who had not hesitated to take part in the meetings, such as for example Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the side of Le Mans. Since then, this event has caught the eye of several sponsors and it is therefore a new version which started this Sunday near Créteil. The neighborhood CAN now becomes the National Neighborhood Cup (CNDQ). Consequences: there are now twice as many teams entered, more resources, since the competition is sponsored by Nike or Heetch, but also and above all a final broadcast live on television on Prime Video.
This development necessarily entails more responsibilities. “It’s a lot of pressure, but a lot of pride first. It is a highly anticipated event. Managing people is hard. And in an event like this with thousands of people at the edge of the field, controlling everything is not easy.confides in a first time Moussa Sow, perfect namesake of the former Senegalese international of LOSC, at the origin of the CAN of the districts and president of Collective Assault.“This success on the one hand, I might even say that it is unfortunate in the sense that this request was made a while ago at the level of the town halls. But nobody believed in our project. We showed that we might bring people together and that we were organized. With sponsors, we are even more vigilant. Having people open their doors to us was unimaginable before. You imagine that Nike sponsors the competition, they give jerseys, shorts that we have imagined ourselves. It is enormous.”
An always-on audience
It was also necessary to see the atmosphere when launching the first matches of the tournament to realize the magnitude of the event. In the Dominique-Duvauchelle stadium, located just outside the metro, the followers were there. The atmosphere too. A DJ was even present just for the occasion in order to animate the meetings which were played in a stadium framed by certain well-found slogans of the Heetch brand such as “Here, we go around the world without leaving the neighborhood” or “Let’s stick together like the Crusaders”. This festival concerned the big ones, but especially the little ones. The children also took advantage of the smallest free space on the pitch at the final whistle to come and kick the ball before quickly leaving the green rectangle when the matches resumed. “Not everything is perfectly structured either. I don’t want to distort the competition. We don’t put a lot of restrictions on people, because they are also there to profit. The little ones play with their balls and sometimes it gets in the way of matches, but that’s okay. They come to have fun so it’s a success. For them, it’s like coming to see professional players. They have stars in their eyes. And it shows that we made it“, admits Moussa Sow.
But then on the ground what does it give? For the official launch of the competition, four matches took place. The first concerned Morocco, defending champion and always present regarding the atmosphere, and Italy, a new team in this tournament. Under the watchful eye of former PSG player Sammy Traoré, a native of the city and present for the event, the Moroccans did the job in the first pool match with a victory (5-2). But it is on the other ground that it was necessary to take a look. Because the public seemed to ignite on each of the actions. And for good reason, Guinea and the West Indies offered a fairly spectacular and entertaining match, at least as much as in the stands where the traditional “Kill it”, “Smoke it”, “Work it” flourished on each of the two teams’ offensives. . What give wings to the players, who have long thought to leave on a draw three everywhere. But the West Indies ended up, in a very good way, by flying away in the second period to finally win (7-3). “Physically, they give their all. There is a level this year frankly. Guinea got eaten out late in the game, but they held on well. The West Indies, they are hot” explains Mehdi who follows the matches with great interest.
A final broadcast on television and in front of 12,000 spectators
And to answer the question everyone is asking: are the teams only made up of players from the same community? The answer is no. At least not always. “The number 10 of Italy there, it’s a Moroccan I swear to you”, ironically a supporter present on the lawn. Moussa Sow, organizer, gives more explanations.“In some countries, you cannot have so many players in Créteil. Portugal is possible, but Italy, for example, is impossible. But in several countries, we had a lot of requests, especially the West Indies. Unfortunately, we cannot satisfy everyone. We have set a rule, which is to have at least eight players from Créteil in each team. We want to have control over the teams. If there are issues, I won’t be able to speak with someone from another city like I would with a friend to resolve the problem.”
Now that the CNDQ is officially launched, and while a women’s tournament will also take place, the objective remains to reach the final and have the chance to go live on television on Prime Video, but also in front of the 12,000 spectators expected. A great development and a great reward for a project that also aimed to unite a city and neighborhoods. “When I created this tournament, I had imposed that each team be composed of a player from each district of the city. Because we know very well how it is. Sometimes there are wars between certain neighborhoods. People are at war just because they don’t live in the same neighborhood. We had to find this common denominator. You are at war when you are of the same origin, well you are going to defend the same jersey. And it will force you to know yourself”, concluded Moussa Sow. The bet is successful.
