Morocco lands 2025 AFCON extraordinaire

Article posted by Coliseum, October 9^th, 2023

Image: Stade de Marrakech, Nilgro, CC BY-SA 4.0

Morocco will host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced.

‘BBC’ stated that a joint East African bid from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania has also won the rights to hold the 2027 tournament.

The Africa Cup of Nations, sometimes referred to as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, or simply AFCON or CAN, is the main international men’s association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was first held in 1957.

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The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the TotalEnergies 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is scheduled to be the 35^th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men’s football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament will be hosted by Morocco for the second time as the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, originally to be hosted by Morocco, couldn’t happen due to the Ebola outbreak.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, futsal and beach soccer in Africa currently headquartered at the 6^th of October City in Cairo, Egypt.

‘BBC’ further stated that Morocco replaces Guinea who was stripped of the tournament in October last year because of concerns about infrastructure and facilities.

Zambia and a joint Nigeria-Benin bid were also in the running for 2025. But they agreed to withdraw in order to allow Morocco to prove its worth in the hope it will increase the chances of Africa hosting the World Cup. And it paid off as Morocco is one of the countries which will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup™ along with Spain and Portugal.

Patrice Motsepe, President of organizers CAF, said all of the options for both tournaments would have made Africa “proud”.

He added the decisions had been based on the level of infrastructure made available by bids, including facilities, accommodation and hospitals.

Motsepe said of Morocco’s success, which also came after Algeria withdrew on eve of the vote, “The decision that was taken today (September 27^th) was to focus on African unity, development and growth in the context of those countries withdrawing. A huge amount of money is being spent on Morocco for 2025.”

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania’s selection represents the first time nations from the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) will stage the tournament since Ethiopia in 1976.

Nairobi (Kenya)-based the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) is an association of the football playing nations in mostly East Africa and parts of Central Africa. An affiliate of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), CECAFA is the oldest sub-regional football organization in the continent.

“The three nations came together because our standards and requirements are very high,” added Motsepe, likening expectations for the organisation of tournaments to those held by the European administrative body – the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) – and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).

Maintained Motsepe, “Sometimes it requires hundreds of millions – sometimes billions – in infrastructure. It makes me proud when football brings countries together. AFCON 2027 is going to be a huge success.”

The next tournament will take place in Ivory Coast (country in West Africa) from January 13^th until February 11^th, 2024. The draw will take place in Abidjan (City in Côte d’Ivoire) on October 12^th at 1900 GMT.

Nyon (Switzerland)-based the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as some Asian countries such as Israel, Cyprus and Armenia. The UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA’s six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay, near Asunción.

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