Africa’s football governing body, Confederation of African Football (CAF) have elected Morocco to host the 35th edition of the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The proclamation was made at the CAF Executive committee meeting held in Cairo, Egypt.
The tournament was initially set to be staged in Guinea but was handed over to Morocco after Guinea were stripped of hosting rights in October last year due to the country’s limited resources and facilities.
The Atlas Lions are poised to stage Africa’s showpiece for the 2nd time in their history, with the first on their terrain coming in 1988.
Other nations such as Zambia and a joint bid from Nigeria-Benin were also under consideration by CAF, but the nations pulled out in order for Morocco to host the continental showpiece in a bid to state their claim of co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain.
Electing Morocco to host the 2025 African cup of nations was unsurprising to many, as Morocco hosted the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) and are stepping up preparations to host also the 2024 WAFCON.
The AFCON 2027 hosts were also announced with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania braced to host the tournament, beating off competition from Botswana, Egypt and Senegal. It is the first time that the tournament will be staged amongst countries from East Africa and Central Africa Football associations (CECAFA) since Ethiopia in 1976.
The 34th edition of the Total energies AFCON is scheduled to take place between 13 January until 11 February 2024 in La Côte D’Ivoire. The draw will be held at Abidjan on 12 October.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo | universnews.ug.edu.gh
