October 3 – The Confederation of African Football is to re-open bidding for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after stripping Guinea of hosting rights to host the competition, with Morocco among the nations set to apply.
The decision follows a meeting on Friday between Guinea’s interim president, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, and CAF boss Patrice Motsepe after the west African country, among the poorest of the continent, said it was not ready to host the 24-nation tournament.
It’s not the first time an African country has been forced to pull out and begs the question as to whether CAF makes hosting decisions based on political expediency without sufficient infrastructural research.
“The 2025 Nations Cup allocated to Guinea will not take place there because we’re not yet ready in Guinea,” Motsepe told a news conference.
“CAF is going to ask to receive new bids because the infrastructure and facilities are not appropriate or ready for CAF to host the 2025 Nations Cup in Guinea.”
Motsepe’s visit followed one in early September by a CAF mission to check on the progress of the project.
According to Reuters, the decision to strip Guinea was made as early as June. The latest move heaps even more embarrassment on the organisation of Africa’s flagship event which has been dogged for years by hosting withdrawals and rescheduling.
Observers may legitimately ask why Guinea was chosen for 2025 in the first place given the expansion of the finals to 24 teams in 2019, always a challenge for Guinea’s sparse infrastructure.
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