The 2006 African Nations Cup mascot has been unveiled. Inas Mazhar liked what she saw Unveiling the 2006 football African Nations Cup mascot, and introducing the headquarters of the organising committee realistically marked the countdown to the championship, the continent's biggest sports event, to be hosted by Egypt in January. On Sunday, top sports officials, media representatives, former and current footballers saw the mascot up close as it made its first public appearance. It's a mischievous looking, impish reptile called Croconile. The design was a gift from Advision Agency especially done for the tournament. Before Croconile was introduced to more than 500 guests in an extravagant ceremony in the gardens of Maniyal Palace, the president of the local organising committee Hani Abou Reida called to the stage all former players and the federation's previous officials who participated in the four editions that Egypt won: 1957, 1959, 1986 and 1998. They gathered for a group photo and were awarded certificates of merit by the committee. The official ANC song was sung for the first time, live on stage, by pop singer Hisham Abbas. According to Abou Reida, Crocodile won out over many other designs. "We found that it best reflected the image of Egypt and Africa," Abou Reida said. "Croconile has the colours of the Egyptian flag," Abou Reida said. "In the front there is a bright colourful Pharaonic vest on the chest as a symbol of Egypt's heritage. A crown resembles the crown of the pharaoh Mina or Narmar who unified Egypt's northern and southern regions. The green of the mascot symbolises Africa's natural forests and green areas that link the continent's countries, whereas gold symbolises the colour of the African deserts that are found throughout the continent." The committee's members and commissions will be working on the 11th floor of the Ministry of Youth. "These are the offices where the local organising committee will be working until the kick-off," Youth Minister Mamdouh El-Beltagui told a press conference held late last week during which he gave media people a tour of the headquarters. "They are working under my supervision. My office lies on the same floor. I can keep an eye on everything and I guess that will make people relaxed. Everything is going okay." The minister said that after meeting Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, it was decided that the army would take full responsibility for refurbishing all selected stadiums to meet FIFA conditions. "They will be ready on time and Egyptians will be proud of the new facilities that will be added to all these stadiums," El-Beltagui said. The minister said that during the meeting it was agreed that both the ministries of information and culture will be responsible for the opening ceremony in Cairo Stadium. "We did not want the foreign offers we received from multi-national companies regarding sports ceremonies," El-Beltagui said. "One famous company asked for $23 million. But we can't spend all that amount on a ceremony that will last only 45 minutes. We can't even spare $7 million that the Tunisians paid for the opening ceremony of the 2004 event they hosted. By giving the task to Egyptians, we would not only be saving money but would guarantee that the tournament would reflect the Egyptian and African image."
