Editorial,

The 27th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations wrapped up in Angola last night with Egypt securing a record seventh  title after beating Ghana 1-0 in a tense final. Last night?s success was the Pharaohs? third successive Nations Cup title, following their 2006 and 2008 successes, hence reaffirming their status as the finest tournament team in the long history of the Nations Cup. Unlike other Nations Cup finals however, the Angola 2010 finals, held from 10-31 January grabbed the headlines for some many reasons.

There was a deadly gun attack on the Togo national team bus in the oil-producing region of Cabinda on January 8, which left two officials dead [assistant coach and team spokesman]. The horror attack, which came 24 hours before the kick-off, overshadowed the start of the tournament that was  hosted by the former Portuguese colony recovering from strains of a long civil war.

The Togolese team later withdrew from the tournament, meaning the hosts Angola were joined by only 14 teams instead of 15, with a total of 29 games being played instead of 32. Despite this setback, the three-week finals undoubtedly provided fans on the continent and throughout the world with some fantastic football and entertaining football. It was however, marred with some controversy and confusion.

Algeria going through to the second round stages in the name of head-to-head rule, despite scoring only once in three group matches as opposed to Mali, a side that scored seven goals, resulted in many fans taking a swipe at the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The continental football body also stole the headlines again for the wrong reasons after the final round of matches in Group D where Cameroon, Zambia and Gabon all finished on four points with all three thinking they had qualified.

It was concluded after the match that both Cameroon and Zambia had qualified, meaning that Nigeria would play Cameroon whilst Zambia were to play Egypt. But then another controversy started over which of the two teams had actually topped the group. Nigeria?s assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi, like most followers of the game, was not sure which team the eventual bronze medalists of the tournament were to tackle in the next round for a semi-final ticket, until he later announced the team received direct confirmation from CAF, a situation that should never have happened.

Gabon, who had earlier celebrated after their 2-1 loss to Zambia, were also left in a state of shock because they thought they had qualified due to their 1-0 win over Cameroon, only for CAF to later explain how the head-to-head rule was just the first option in determining group winners, and not the final choice, as goals scored also mattered. 24 hours prior to yesterday?s final came the most controversial decision by CAF when it handed Togo a four-year ban in addition to a $50,000 fine for quitting the competition in the wake of the January 8 gun attack on their team bus.

After the attack followed a period of confusion, but Togo players were ultimately recalled home for a three-day of national mourning by their government and CAF deemed that move amounted to political interference, leading to Saturday's sanction. But many football followers have expressed astonishment at the decision, saying it was too harsh for a nation that lost two precious lives in the attack.

In a recent interview, CAF claims to be protecting the future of African football by adhering to tournament rules. But many still wonder how they are helping the next generation of Togolese players by giving them no continental championship to play for -and at least two years without competition until the 2014 World Cup qualifying comes around. As we look forward to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa coming up in June, one can only hope for another classic tournament, but one that is free from all form of confusion and controversy.