By
Dermot Corrigan
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Teodoro
Obiang has been in power in Equatorial Guinea since 1979: GettyImages
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The Spanish national side has been
accused of offering support to Equatorial Guinea’s dictatorial regime by
agreeing to play Saturday’s friendly in Malabo.
The controversial fixture was only
announced last week after other plans for Spain to play a game
in nearby Gabon, or against Russia in Dubai, fell through.
Equatorial Guinea co-organised the 2012
African Nations Cup with Gabon, but has never hosted a visiting European side.
Under long-serving dictator Teodoro Obiang, it is claimed that little of the
money from the country’s booming oil industry goes to its people, while human
rights abuses are reportedly widespread.
Wenceslao Mansogo, human rights
secretary of the opposition party Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), told
El Pais that games such as
Saturday’s against Spain are used by the regime to cover up the country’s many
serious issues.
“The government takes advantage of such
events to give an image of normality, so people forget about the oppression,”
Mansogo said. “That La Roja come here is indecent on Spain’s part. This
is an advertisement for Obiang.
“I like football, and there are many
fans in the country, but in this case reality is being covered up. There is no
type of freedom, not of expression, opinion or movement within the country. The
justice system does not work. There are arbitrary detentions and political and
military abuses.”
Spain coach Del Bosque told El Larguero last week that
he was not entirely comfortable with the situation, but suggested the game had
been organised due to the close links between Spain and its former colony.
“We do not want to get into political
matters,” Del Bosque said. “There are countries which are maybe not total
democracies. It is a country which is independent at the moment, but was
dependent on Spain in the past.”
Equatorial Guinea are coached by former
Spain U21 boss Andoni Goikoetxea -- the ex-Spain international famously
nicknamed The Butcher of Bilbao -- and Del Bosque added: “There is a Spanish
coach there who was with us in the federation.
“There is a good relationship between
the countries. We are giving people a chance to see the world champions. I
understand what you are saying, but we do not get into that.”
Beyond Goikoetxea, many of Equatorial
Guinea’s players were born in Spain, including captain Rodolfo Bodipo, a
veteran Deportivo la Coruna forward who was born in Seville.
Spain, who are to stay at the
580-million-euro ‘Sipopo’ luxury hotel complex, will be the first non-African
national team to play in Guinea. The Nzalang have only once before faced
non-European opposition, when they took on Estonia in Tallinn in 1993.
Mundo Deportivo claims the
squad has been promised a five-million-euro bonus by the country’s
vice-president, the dictator’s son Teodoro Nguema Obiang, should they defeat
the World Cup holders.
Spain's other friendly during the
current international break is in South Africa, with the Spanish FA
(RFEF) billing it as a chance to “demonstrate its gratitude for the wonderful
hospitality of the South African sports authorities and the support of the
country’s football fans during the 2010 South Africa World Cup.”
The RFEF has been criticised in the
past for arranging friendlies for non-footballing reasons, with La Roja
having travelled to Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Panama, Costa Rica, Dubai and
Puerto Rico for games in recent years, while other countries concentrate more
on playing serious rivals in European venues.
Source: http://espnfc.com
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