Sport in Burkina Faso Sport in Burkina Faso Sport in Burkina Faso is widespread and includes football, basketball, cycling, rugby union, handball, tennis, athletics, boxing and martial arts. Football is very popular in Burkina Faso, played both professionally and informally in towns and villages across the country. The national team is nicknamed "Les Etalons" ("the Stallions") in reference to the legendary horse of Princess Yennenga. In 1998, Burkina Faso hosted the African Cup of Nations for which the Omnisport Stadium in Bobo-Dioulasso was built. Basketball is one of the top sports in Burkina Faso for both men and women. Its national team had its
Calcutta Cup made using modern technology. In 1988 the cup was damaged by the antics of some drunken players, including England number eight Dean Richards and Scotland flanker John Jeffrey who played football with the Calcutta Cup along Princes Street in Edinburgh. Jeffrey received a six-month ban from the SRU, whilst Richards was given a one-match sentence from England. Despite the initial request of the Calcutta Club that the trophy be used as rugby's answer to football's FA Cup, the RFU refused to turn the Calcutta Cup into a knock-out competition for English club sides. They believed that "competitiveness" ran against the