Reuters, Cape Town, April 27 - The Confederation of African Football released on Thursday a list of four bidders for the 2027 African Cup of Nations, with Algeria at the top. Morocco, however, was unexpectedly left off, suggesting a deal has been reached about the 2025 tournament.
After the deadline for declarations of interest for the tournament in 2027 passed, the CAF received offers from Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, and a joint bid from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, according to a statement.
The CAF has frequently put off determining who will take over hosting duties in 2025 from Guinea. After it was determined that they were too far behind in constructing the event's infrastructure, they lost their right to host the event the previous year.
The top two candidates for 2025 are Algeria and Morocco, but insiders have informed Reuters that picking between the two neighbors has turned into a political conundrum for CAF.
But now that Algeria is a contender for hosting the event in 2027 as well, it is possible for Morocco to be given the hosting rights for the 2025 finals and Algeria to host the event two years later.
Winning the privilege to host the 2025 Cup of Nations would be a matter of national pride and a public relations victory for the two North African neighbors, whose diplomatic relations have been stopped due to their antagonistic relationship.
In recent years, Morocco has grown to be a significant political player in African football. It has hosted various continental competitions when other nations have refused to do so, most notably the Women's Cup of Nations last year.
To avoid being outdone, Algeria constructed a stunning new stadium in its capital, Algiers, for the staging of the African Nation Championship in January. This competition is for national teams that exclusively consist of players from their own country.
However, the competition was ruined when Morocco boycotted it after being denied permission to fly their team into Algeria, where Moroccan planes have been prohibited from flying since 2021.
Because of concerns that the rainy season will affect the competition, the 2023 Cup of Nations finals, which were scheduled to be held in the Ivory Coast, have been shifted to January of the following year.
The four proposals for 2027 would be examined in June and July, but the CAF stated that a date for the executive committee's customary selection of the hosts had not yet been set.
blogpay
