Fine-tuning the final preparations for hosting the Africa Nations Championship, the CHAN 2023 Organizing Committee has unveiled the mascot of the African Cup equivalent of local players. Tradition perpetuated at each sporting event, the mascot is the ambassador of these competitions.
In addition, an integral part of the decor, the mascot is the essential character of major sports competitions.
CHAN 2023 Official Mascot Announcement Ceremony
Thus, for this edition of CHAN 2023 in Algeria, the choice of the CHAN Organizing Committee fell on a fennec named “El Cobtan”, captain of the ship, whose mission will be to promote the Championship and brighten the atmosphere of this event.
Arousing the interest of the Algerian public, the fennec “El Cobtan” was welcomed yesterday at the headquarters of the Algerian Football Federation at Dely-Brahim in Algiers.
This first contract was marked by a great intention, followed by an important presence, of the Algerian public. Faced with this important participation in this ceremony, the President of the Organizing Committee of CHAN 2023 in Algeria, Rachid Oukali, declared, “We have planned a large presence at this event.
Cobtan, the CHAN 2023 mascot
However, the number of participants exceeded our forecasts. We should have enlarged the room which hosted the announcement of the mascot. he told the Algerian press.
Thus, El Cobtan’s first contract was an opportunity for the CHAN Organizing Committee to sound out the intention of this football event in Algeria.
CHAN 2023 mascot: the web had other ideas?
Wearing the traditional colors of Algeria, the CHAN 2023 mascot, El Cobtan, was at the center of the debate among Internet users.
Giving free rein to their creations, Algerian internet users had other ideas for the mascot representing the CHAN 2023 event.
On Twitter, many mascot models were shared on the occasion of the announcement of El Cobtan. In order to make a “cleaner” copy, the “twittos” criticized the final rendering of the mascot by circulating other visuals that could, in their opinion, be at the head of the CHAN 2023 gondola.
I have other ‘choices’, I don’t know. pic.twitter.com/AH89dymu00
— lamine filali (@LamineCaptain) December 30, 2022
In addition to the visual and graphic aspect of the mascot, Algerian Internet users say “that they would have preferred to see another animal as a mascot for this event”, we read on several publications and other tweets.
Visual of a web user for the CHAN 2023 mascot
A symbol of wildlife in Algeria, the fennec fox was once again headlined in sports competitions. A questionable choice for Algerian Internet users who would have opted for other species that live in Algeria in order to take advantage of this opportunity to promote the diversity of the Algerian animal park.
For his part, the chairman of the CHAN Organization Committee, Rachid Oukali, justified the choice of his body by evoking “an animal endowed with an important strength which allows it to be independent and not easy to hunt” explains he.
CHAN 2022 |
Here is our mascot!
El Cobtan ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/2JixbEjLxU
— Algeria Project Stadiums (@AlgerStadProj) December 29, 2022
