The Confederation of African Football "may reduce the minimum capacity of 20,000 required for a stadium to host the Africa Cup of Nations," according to Piers Edwards of the BBC. It follows the "use of smaller venues in the rearranged finals in Equatorial Guinea, which saw fewer empty seats." CAF General Secretary Hicham El Amrani said, "It gives us a sign that building huge venues in all areas is not necessarily the best thing." In previous editions of the event, "matches not involving the host nation have been seldom packed out -- a combination of ticket prices, working hours, apathy and the challenges facing overseas fans to blame." However, crowds "flocked to watch matches at the hastily-arranged finals in Equatorial Guinea, which used four venues." The major arenas were in the capital Malabo, with a capacity of 16,000, and Bata on the African mainland, whose 35,000-seater stadium hosted Sunday's final. Meanwhile, Ebebiyin (5,000) and Mongomo (8,000) "also attracted decent crowds" as int'l football came to the "eastern Equatoguinean cities for the first time." El Amrani: "These stadiums were just the right size, considering the populations around" (BBC, 2/10).
