 Elephants to set up camp in Tanzania
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Ivory Coast will train in Tanzania before traveling to Angola for next year’s Nations Cup finals.
The decision was confirmed on Monday in Dar es Salaam at a joint press conference between the members of the football federations of both countries.
The coach of the Elephants Vahid Hallilhodzic was also present.
The Ivorians will play two friendly matches against the Taifa Stars on January 4 and January 7 before flying out to Luanda.
Present during the announcement were the president of Tanzania Football Federation Leodegar Tenga and Ivorian FA vice president Idris Dialo.
Tenga said they had approached the Ivorians.
“We approached Ivory Coast when they were in Malawi for their World Cup qualifier, and they accepted our request to set camp here. We will foot all the costs,” he said.
Ivory Coast FA vice president Dialo said they were happy with the invitation and expressed satisfaction at the facilities.
“We have inspected the training ground, the stadium, we are happy with the facilities and ready to camp here,” he said.
Tenga said they would use the matches to warm up for the Africa Nations Cup.
Tanzania has been promoting itself as a training destination for the teams going to the World Cup finals in South Africa.
An invitation was also sent to Brazil inviting them to camp in Tanzania ahead of next year’s world cup in South Africa but the former world champions turned the request down.
The federation officials say they are still contacting other nations over the possibility of stopping over in Dar es Salaam.
The country boasts a modern stadium in Dar es Salaam, which is a main attraction point.
Deputy Sports Minister Joel Bendera also said the southern African countries grouped under SADC regional organisation, had agreed to promote the region as a whole as a World Cup destination.
