Empty seats blight African Nations Cup final

By Brian Homewood

ACCRA (Reuters) - African Nations Cup organisers suffered an unhappy day on Sunday when rows of empty seats blighted the final between Egypt and Cameroon at the Obene Djan stadium.

Although no official attendance was given, the 45,000 capacity arena appeared to be only around two thirds full with swathes of empty yellow seats behind the goals.

The crowd was also boosted by the presence of groups of organised fan clubs whose expenses are paid by sponsors, soccer federations or government agencies.

The only sell-out matches at the tournament have been those involving hosts Ghana, who lost to Cameroon in the semi-finals.

Some group games were played in almost deserted stadiums and even the semi-final between Ivory Coast and Egypt was played in a half-empty arena in Kumasi.

Ghanaians have complained that ticket prices were beyond their reach and there have been numerous complaints that tickets were not available at designated sales points.

The tournament has suffered other problems, including a chronic shortage of hotels, while the Benin and Namibia teams said they had been approached by an unidentified man offering them money to throw games.

(Editing by Rex Gowar)