By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
To ensure a seamless security operations during next year’s TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cameroon 2021, the Head of CAF Safety and Security Department, Dr. Christian Emeruwa on Tuesday organised yet another workshop for persons involved in the delivery of a safe African football festival ever.
Speaking on the workshop specifically designed for all the appointed Venue Operations Centres (VOC) Commanders that will be responsible for the operations of Commanding and leading the Venue Operations Centers in the AFCON, Emeruwa said it is part of CAF’s efforts to stage a safe and secure AFCON in Cameroon in the face of global security challenges.
The globally recognised Sports Safety and Security expert who holds a Ph.D in Administration and Organisation of Sports and also a Certified Sports Safety and Security Professional obtained from SRH Heidelberg University, Germany revealed that the high points of the workshop was the discussion on the strategic role of the VOC Commanders to the delivery of Safety and Security operations for the AFCON.
The statement read in parts:
“Today CAF concluded the organisation of a One-Day Workshop for all the appointed Venue
Operations Centres (VOC) Commanders that will be responsible for the operations of Commanding and leading the Venue Operations Centers in the AFCON.
This Commanders workshop was also attended by the Deputy Venue Operations Commanders.
The essence of the workshop is to make sure the Venue Operations Commander understands their role as a strategic operations commander in the delivery of Safety and Security for the AFCON.
They were exposed to understanding how critical their roles are because they serve as the eyes and ears of the Ground Commanders or the Operational Commanders on ground.
It was a very interesting workshop that was attended by all the appointed Venue Operations Commanders and their Deputies and presentations ranging from the introduction of VOC operations, the role of VOC Commander as well as the Local Organising Committee (LOC) strategic plan for VOC operation as it relates to their relationship with the National Command Center (NCC).
So we are happy that this workshop came on and we are also happy that were are able to deliver it for the first time again.
We are making sure that every critical security role player is properly educated on what to do, how to do it,
when to do it, to enable us have a seamless security operations during the AFCON”.
