This Saturday the Africa Cup of Nations kicked off in the tiny west African state of Equatorial Guinea and I, for one, am looking forward to watching the African stars who regularly light-up Europe’s top leagues going head to head.

The country is co-hosting the tournament for the first time (with neighbouring Gabon) and Equatorial Guinea will play their first game against surprise qualifiers Libya. An oil rich nation with a seemingly immovable ruler is not a new story in Africa but with the death of Colonel Gadaffi following the Libyan revolution last year Equatorial Guinea’s President Obiang is now the longest-ruling leader on the continent at 32 years. Usually for countries holding tournaments it would be a source of great national pride; in Equatorial Guinea it is just another example of the government’s misplaced priorities.

Thanks to oil, Equatorial Guinea’s per capita wealth is on par with some European nations (seriously!) yet the country is a story of two realities. Billions of pounds have been spent on construction projects aimed at impressing foreign visitors and entertaining a small class of local elites, while most of the population live without access to basic services like safe drinking water, quality education or affordable healthcare. Many can only dream of being able to afford a ticket to the games. A veil of government secrecy means that money routinely disappears out of the country and doesn’t go to those most in need.

An example (almost caricature) of the elite is the President’s son Teodorin Obiang. Officially, he earns less than $7,000 a month which meant that more than a few eyebrows were raised when it turned out he owns a Gulfstream jet, a speedboat, a beachside mansion in Malibu, California complete with swimming pool and $2million worth of Michael Jackson memorabilia. This has all since been seized by the US Department of Justice after questions were asked as to how exactly Teodorin had managed to afford it all.

Seemingly undeterred by this slap on his Rolex-ed wrist, Teodorin has chosen the run-up to the Cup of Nations as an opportunity to pop his head above the parapet and offered a whopping $1million bonus to the national side if they win their opening match, as well as $20,000 for each goal scored.

The Africa Cup of Nations is the third most watched football tournament on the planet. Many millions will be watching. This is the perfect time to draw attention to the problem of a lack of transparency with regard to oil revenues in Equatorial Guinea. To simply shrug and say “this isn’t our fight” is not only to miss the point but to underestimate the power of the game and its stars. How can we realistically use slogans like “one game, one community”, “Respect” and “my game is fair play” and then be so coy about using the game’s huge influence to highlight injustice around the world?

Campaign groups EG Justice and ONE have joined forces to call on the European Union to quickly adopt robust new rules that would force many of the multinational companies operating in Equatorial Guinea to publish the payments they make to the government for the right to extract oil. This would give citizens in Equatorial Guinea access to previously secret information, helping them to hold their government accountable for money received. 

This is a campaign that needs grassroots support, but a nudge from the top, from the pinnacle of the sport, would be massive. The power of sport is well-documented, if not to attempt to enact direct change then certainly to draw attention to issues that affect people around the world. The sporting embargo of South Africa is probably the most famous (and extreme) example.

Africa is a continent full of success stories – 2011 saw more free and fair elections held than ever before and many countries’ growth rates are the envy of European economies. But problems still exist and we can help enact change. The football community around the world has a very powerful voice. We can and should start encouraging governments to play fair, as well.