A TALE OF FIVE CITIES: RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS TOURNAMENT IN CAMEROON

Abstract

This study explores residents’ perceptions of the impacts of hosting major sports events such as the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament (AFCON) 2022 in their city. Even though previous studies have established that support from the local community is vital for the successful delivery of major sports events, residents continue to be side-lined, and their views ignored in the organisation of various events. A cross-sectional research design was employed, and a questionnaire used in collecting data from 1683 respondents across all five host cities of AFCON 2022 in Cameroon. The main finding of this study is that the respondents perceive social, economic and community impacts from hosting the AFCON 2022 to be particularly high and that there are statistically significant differences between the respondents based on age groups and educational level. A major implication of this study is that organisers of sports events such as the AFCON 2022 need to pay greater attention to community perceptions if they intend to garner the support of residents. Tourism policy and planning implications are also discussed.