Morocco and Algeria will host the AFCON
ISLAMABAD: Morocco and Algeria are expected to be announced as the hosts of the 2025 and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations competitions, respectively, on Wednesday in Both, along with Zambia and a joint Nigeria-Benin bid, are vying to host the biggest sporting event in Africa in 2025.
Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Senegal, and a joint challenge from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda all entered the 2027 competitional top African Football Confederation (CAF) official told AFP that “the two hosts will definitely be named on September 27” after a series of dates passed without the announcement of the hosts.
After reviewing independent assessments of each 2025 and 2027 candidate, the executive committee will vote, but politics and the promise of regional rotation have complicated things. Algeria and Morocco are neighbors in North Africa, and their political rivalry recently spilled over into the sport of football.
The team representing the kingdom in the 2022/2023 African Nations Championship (CHAN) for home-based players was forced to withdraw due to a ban on Moroccan planes flying over Algeria. When their request to fly immediately to Algeria was denied, Morocco, which had won the previous two editions, boycotted the competition, depriving it of one of the tournament’s top contenders for the championship.
Both nations are capable of hosting Cup of Nations competitions of the highest caliber thanks to their outstanding infrastructure, stadia, and populations of football enthusiasts. However, both would desire to host in 2025, with top Moroccan and CAF official Fouzi Lekjaa stirring up controversy in the middle of the year by informing local politicians that the kingdom would be chosen.
He was quoted by domestic media as saying that “when Morocco wins the organization, the Fes stadium will have the honor of hosting CAN (Cup of Nations) 2025 matches.” Patrice Motsepe, the millionaire president of the CAF and a South African, is well aware of the political rivalry between the neighbors.
Published in EDP BLOGS on September 27,2023.
