African football focus moves to Morocco from January 13^th to February 4^th2018 as they host the much anticipated African Nations Championship (CHAN) in four major cities Agadir,Casablanca,Marrakech and Tangier.

It will be a huge spectacle and football bonanza  as the Moroccan port of the strait Gilbraltar called Tangier  awaits the football teams and soccer lovers .soka25east.com will focus on the host cities ahead of the tournament to give the teams and football fans a chance to know the host cities.

The Moroccan Port

Tangier, a Moroccan port on the Strait of Gibraltar, has been a strategic gateway between Africa and Europe since Phoenician times. Its whitewashed hillside medina is home to the Dar el Makhzen, a palace of the sultans that’s now a museum of Moroccan artifacts. The American Legation Museum, also in the medina, documents early diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Morocco in an 1821 Moorish-style former consulate.

Weather

Weather: 11°C, Wind S at 21 km/h, 74% Humidity

Local time: Tuesday 9:24 AM

Population: 947,952 (2014)

Number of airports: 1

Civilisation

Many civilisations and cultures have impacted the history of Tangier starting from before the 5th century BC. Between the period of being a strategic Berber  town and then a  Phoenician  trading centre to the independence era around the 1950s, Tangier was a nexus for many cultures. In 1923, it was considered as having International Status  by foreign Colonial Powers , and became a destination for many European and American diplomats, spies, writers and businessmen.

The city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernisation. Projects include new tourism projects along the bay, a modern business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal and a new football stadium. Tangier’s economy is also set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port.

Tangier Past as compared to the present

Tangier’s past is full of peaks and troughs, and it looks on the cusp of enjoying a boom. A strategic gateway between Africa and Europe, it was torn and tussled over by the British, Moroccans, Portuguese, Spanish and French, each destroying and developing it in their time.

In the early 1960s the Great Scandal erupted, sparked by a series of paedophile convictions. Tales emerging from the city so appalled the Moroccan royal family that they could barely stomach the existence of the place, letting it slide down on its own sleaze into the Strait of Gibraltar. The young King Mohammed VI has, however, woken up to Tangier’s potential, believing that it could become a North African Saint-Tropez.

A king’s fortune is being spent on a new port, marina and three terminals for fast ferries. A high-speed train service is to “revolutionise” rail travel, with journeys from Casablanca to Tangier reduced from five to two hours. Vast hotels and malls are slowly emerging. The plan, according to locals, is for much of the work to be completed by summer. “The king is coming soon. He’s pissed off and wants it finished,” confided the manager at the excellent El Tangerino restaurant on the beachfront. But then this plan was in the making at the turn of the century, so we shall see.

Tangier Stade Ibn Batouta

Stade Ibn Batouta is a multi-use Stadium in Tangier,Morocco. It is used mostly for football matches and big events as ceremonies or concerts. The stadium has a capacity of 45,000 people. It serves as the new home of IR Tanger and will be used for CHAN 2018 Matches , replacing the former Stade de Marchan.

It was inaugurated on April 26, 2011. On July 27, the stadium hosted the 2011 Trophee des champions , in which Marseille beat Lille 5-4.

It was one of the confirmed host stadiums for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, which was to be hosted by Morocco until it was stripped of its hosting rights.

CHAN 2018 GROUP C MATCHES

Nigeria,Libya,Rwanda and Equitorial Guinea will be based in Tangier where Group C matches will be played.