Cameroon Sports Minister Rejects CHAN 2020 Mascot Tara

The Cameroon Sports and Physical Education Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi has rejected the Organization Committee of the 2020 African Nations Championship’s proposal for Tara to be the official mascot of the competition.

The competition, which exclusively features players from their respective domestic leagues, will be staged in Cameroon from April 4 to 25.

Tara has been the talk of the social media since Saturday with Cameroonians bashing the mascot, wondering how the organizing committee came up with such in the first place.

The mascot, which was unveiled at the Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, to many of the Central African nation’s citizens looks frightful, sick, hungry and ugly.

Following the backlash, Kombi who doubles as President of the Organising Committee of the CHAN has issued a short statement stating that Tara will not serve as the official mascot.

“Following the jury’s proposal, enriching opinions from the Cameroonian public and informed recommendations from the CAF, soon the revelation of the final face of the official mascot of CHAN Cameroon 2020 will be made”.

Cameroon has in the past hosted international football competitions, with the last one being the 2016 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON), where event mascot Lili, which looked very happy and full of life, graced the event.