The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is shocked after learning of the missing original Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Egypt.
“CAF has learnt with shock reports of missing AFCON trophies from the Egyptian Football Association secretariat. Our doors are open and the EFA can count on our support in the search for the priceless memorabilia,” CAF wrote on Twitter, Sunday.
Reports of the missing trophy broke on Friday with the Egyptian FA confirming by launching an investigation.
The trophy disappeared from the Egyptian football association headquarters in Cairo. The Afcon trophy is among several trophies missing from the headquarters.
The missing trophy is the one Egypt earned for keeps after winning the competition three times in a row between 2006 and 2010.
“As the Egyptian FA is currently developing the main headquarters, including changing the entrance to a small museum of Egyptian football, the management was shocked by the disappearance of some old trophies from the storeroom,” said the EFA in a statement.
“The EFA is now investigating the trophies’ disappearance to determine if those old trophies were saved after the building was burned … or if they were lost when the building was exposed during this incident,” the EFA added.
Ghana was the first team to win the trophy three times, in 1978, while Cameroon then received the second version of the Nations Cup trophy after becoming the first country to win it on three occasions.
Under Caf rules, teams that win the Nations Cup receive a replica of the trophy on a permanent basis while they are allowed to keep the trophy for the two years in-between tournaments before handing it back.
The current trophy, whose style is still the same as the one won by Egypt, is in the hands of Algeria, who won the last Nations Cup title (in Cairo) last year.
Source:Â Ghana Soccernet