The hosts for the 2025, 2027, and 2029 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals will be revealed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) this week.
Following a CAF Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, 2023, in Cairo, the host countries for the next three iterations of the prestigious competition will be announced.
Since the CAF’s decision to revoke Guinea’s hosting rights for the 2025 finals in October 2022, these statements have been eagerly anticipated for almost a year.
Then, CAF disclosed strategies for simultaneously choosing the hosts for the 2027 and 2029 finals.
Rumour has it that Morocco will host the 2025 edition, Senegal will host the 2027 edition, and a joint bid from Nigeria and Benin will host the 2029 edition.
Guinea was disqualified from the 2025 tournament after CAF determined that it had fallen far behind in its preparations for the 24-team event.
The CAF then started a procedure to reopen the bidding with the intention of choosing one candidate early in 2023.
But the final choice has been put off repeatedly.
Algeria, Morocco, Zambia, and a joint bid from Benin and Nigeria made bids for the 2025 finals.
Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, and a joint bid from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda submitted bids for the AFCON in 2027.
In order to undertake thorough evaluations, CAF dispatched assessment teams to each country that submitted a proposal and designated an impartial assessor to direct the inspections.
In order to undertake thorough evaluations, CAF dispatched assessment teams to each country that submitted a proposal and designated an impartial assessor to direct the inspections.
The CAF Executive Committee, however, has the final say about the hosts.
There have been many difficulties and changes in the history of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations during the past ten years, including South Africa taking over in 2013 for a war-torn Libya.
Due to concerns over Cameroon’s preparation for the 2019 finals, Egypt was chosen to host the competition. The 2021 edition, which Cameroon successfully hosted despite being postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2023 Afcon was originally scheduled to take place in Cote d’Ivoire, but it was postponed by six months because of worries about West Africa’s rainy season.