The Comoros Islands (circled), pop 870,000, is a member of the Arab league and the only country in the Arab World which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. Moroni is the capital with a population of around 54,000 (Sunny Muslims account for 98% of the pop) Island area is 10 sq.miles. It has a Tropical climate-hot and wet and very much "African".
The historic town centre of the capital "city", traditionally known as the Medina, contains a maze of narrow alleys and ancient buildings but is poorly maintained. There are many mosques, notably the Badjanani Mosque or Ancienne Mosquée de Vendredi (old Friday mosque), which is the oldest mosque in the Medina. It was originally built in 1427, and a minaret (religious tower) was added in 1921. The 300-seat theatre of the Alliance Franco-Comorienne serves as a venue for national and international performances, ceremonies, conferences, film screenings, and seminars. Moroni has a few hotels and nightclubs. The nearby, dormant Karthala volcano (last eruption in 2005), is also an attraction for hiking (2361m).
Today, the island's football team (ranked 132rd in FIFA) play their Round of 16 tie in the African Cup of Nations, with a depleted side due to Covid. They came third in their group, sensationally, having beaten Ghana 3-2 (who ended up 4th) in their third and final group match, and thus qualify to play on. Imagine the celebration "back home".
The tournament was first played for in 1957 and competed for every two years since. The first tournament was held in Khartoum, Egypt. There was no qualification for this tournament, the field being made up of the four founding nations of CAF (Egypt and Sudan Ethiopia and South Africa). South Africa's insistence on selecting only white players for its squad due to its aparthied policy led to its disqualification, and as a consequence Ethiopia were handed a bye straight to the final. Hence only two matches were played, with Egypt being crowned as the first continental champion after defeating hosts Sudan in the semi-final and Ethiopia in the final.
But, Comoros' first-choice goalkeeper, Salim Ben Boina, is injured and their other two keepers, Ali Ahamada and Moyadh Ousseni, are isolating; watch how Comoros get on vs hosts Cameroon at 7pm this evening. Join Amir Abdou, the Comoros coach, who has Covid and misses the game, along with 11 others in the squad, but will be watching on telly I bet.
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