The current format of the professional championship in Benin continues to provoke reactions from football stakeholders in the country. The latest to react is the president of Jeunesse Athlétique de Kétou (JAK), Abdel Kader Anjorin.
While the professional championship in Benin seems to be bearing fruit with several young players recently called up to the national team, including Abdoul Moumini, who scored against Senegal (1-1), the format no longer pleases everyone. Indeed, the professional league is composed of 36 clubs, without a clear distinction between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, with some clubs directly promoted to the top tier from the third division.
This format has been criticized, notably by the president of Jeunesse Athlétique de Kétou (JAK), Abdel Kader Anjorin, who believes that the championship is financially draining for clubs, most of which are not sports companies. “It allows players to be much more physically enduring. But financially, I think it demands a lot from club presidents, especially for teams that are not sports companies,” he said in remarks relayed by Africafootunited.
Continuing down this path would inevitably lead to the disappearance of less wealthy clubs, according to the son of the former president of the Beninese Football Federation, Anjorin Moucharaf, who called on the authorities to adopt a linear championship format, with the existence of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2.
“For my part, if we can go back to the format of D1, D2, D3, and the Benin Cup (…) The Benin Cup to qualify the representative of Benin for the CAF Confederation Cup and the first division to qualify the champion of Benin for the CAF Champions League, if we return to a format like that, it would be good,” he suggested.
“I am not an expert, it’s just an idea that comes to me. We’ll let the experts decide on that. But honestly, the second phase (Ligue Pro Suite), we played it to see who would be relegated. What is the first phase used for? Like I said, I’m not an expert. But for me, we need to review the format to have a much more balanced championship,” concluded Abdel Kader Anjorin.
“I think we need to stop this…,” Victor Zvunka This plea echoes that of the coach of Coton FC, Victor Zvunka, who called for an end to this format. “We need to have a championship with 16 or 14 teams, with promotion and relegation to bring more competition. You know, when you have a championship like we had this year with no teams being relegated, I don’t know if the motivation is there in the end. For me, in any competition, there should be people who can be at the end of their desires and feel at some point, the danger or the joy,” Victor Zvunka said in an interview with Deeman TV.
