AFCON 2025: An Insider’s Perspective

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When I touched down at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca on 21 December 2025, it hit me quietly: this was my second Africa Cup of Nations. AFCON 2025. Just a few months after covering the African Nations Championship, CHAN in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. I was on the road again. Bags unpacked, accreditation ready, another tournament to live inside.

Did I have room to complain? Not at all. This was the life I had hoped for while growing into journalism — the travel, the deadlines, the privilege of being close to the game. This was the dream, and yeah even just the starting point of it. A “living the moment” feeling, still unfolding.

If there was one thing I could have complained about, though, it was the cold.

Casablanca greeted me with a chill I hadn’t fully prepared for, but it turned out to be nothing more than a warning.

Fez was different. Fez was a bit harder. This was the city the Super Eagles called home for the group stage and their round-of-16 clash, and the cold there was something not just I, but many struggled to cope with.

Prior to AFCON 2025, not many Nigerians were the most optimistic, and would you blame them? No, because the team wasn’t the most inspiring during the World Cup qualifiers. But here it came, the first training sessions of the Super Eagles open to the media, the whole camp looking bubbly and exciting.

It was time for me to give my report, and I had taken off the winter jacket I was wearing to appear on camera. That moment eventually had me catch a cold, and truly, Fez told me: “This is Fez, man!”

Now, away from all that, let’s talk about the game.

For a game that has to be played at 9pm, an average watcher, fan, or supporter at home just has to be tuned in to their TV, maybe 30 minutes before nine. But for a journalist, it’s a different story.

For that 9pm game, by 4pm at the latest, you’re getting prepared to leave for the stadium. By 5 or 5:30, you have to already be there. Even the fans coming into the stadium are already trooping in as early as 6 or 6:30 as well.

In fact, stadium workers, volunteers, and matchday staff all take part in a preparation activity before each matchday to plan for the upcoming game.

For example, the stadium announcer and the matchday DJ run through a soundcheck in the afternoon or evening before the game.

The announcer and DJ work in sync, rehearsing the flow of music and announcements. The DJ sets the beat, the music that comes first, and the announcer practices delivering his lines on top, naming the goalscorer, guiding the crowd, calling out other details that need to be said.

And it’s not just about the goals. Every part of the matchday experience, the timing, the cues, the energy, has to be rehearsed.

This is just a small glimpse of what preparation ahead of a matchday at the AFCON actually looks like.

To put that respect in context, consider a typical group-stage game that ends around 11pm. By the time all the work is done, notes filed, interviews captured, pictures taken, it’s often 1am before you can even think about leaving the stadium. The players, in many cases, have already headed back to their hotel. That’s the kind of work we do, quietly, night after night.

For training sessions, you have to arrive early and be fully set up, ready to wait for the players to arrive. Many times, reports had to be filed in the rain, with gadgets and equipment at risk. And often, there were only fifteen minutes to get everything done.

You might say, but it’s your job. True. But that doesn’t erase the fact that we’re humans, and just because it’s our work doesn’t mean it’s easy. And if you still ask what we even do, maybe now you have a glimpse.

And just as you always read here, my insider’s perspective wouldn’t be complete without adding how every Monday reminded me of the deadline to write on the Super Eagles AFCON journey on this blog with a deep look into players performance.

This is just a brief reveal of what many people do not know happens, and how perspective regarding these things can help tone down what may look like criticism, while also showing what deserves praise.