THE African Cup of Nations football tournament being staged in Ipswich has much more importance than fostering multicultural unity.

The three weekends of competition at Western Spirit’s Kippen Park fields at Goodna will showcase the skills of many fleet-footed young players.

President of Queensland African Communities Council, Beny Bol, said the men’s and women’s tournament would focus on more than building harmony and bringing the African community together.

“It’s also about exposing the talent within our African community. There’s so many talented young people [who are given an opportunity to play].”

Sixty-two matches, including 50 qualifying encounters, are scheduled from November 17-19 with quarter-finals on November 25-26 and semi-finals and grand finals on December 2-3.

Many African countries are represented including Tanzania, South Sudan, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, Burundi, Botswana, Eritrea, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Somolia and Guinea.

Bol expected a large contingent of players and officials from the Ipswich region to be involved.

Kippen Park was chosen as the Queensland venue after Western Spirit officials entered into a Memorandum of Understanding a couple of months ago.

“Usually we look for a facility where the management of the facility have an understanding of the community values,” Bol said. “An understanding of our needs so we can establish strategic partnerships to build around that.”

Players have been training at Kippen Park in recent weeks.

“It’s to add value to what we do in terms of engaging the youth and also providing the space where they can train,” Bol said.

Bol, who has been state president for four years, said the age of the players would range from 18 to early thirties, ensuring fast and entertaining football.

He welcomed everyone to watch the exciting footballers in action and “capture the attention of the public and the African community”.