Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania won the bid to jointly host next year’s tournament, but recent media speculation raised concerns about the readiness of the host nations.

Speaking at a press conference in Dar es Salaam following a CAF Executive Committee meeting, Motsepe addressed the rumours directly, expressing frustration at what he described as a “misinterpretation” of his comments.

“I admit there will be challenges like we witnessed in Cameroon and Ivory Coast. I was asked to strip off the hosting rights due to infrastructure concerns, but we supported these countries, and the tournament ended in a success,” Motsepe told reporters, emphasising that the three nations are making significant strides in their preparations.

“As CAF, we will work tirelessly to ensure that AFCON 2027 will be a success,” he added.

Motsepe also highlighted the broader role of AFCON in developing African football, arguing that limiting the tournament to nations with world-class infrastructure would hinder the sport’s growth across the continent.

By reaffirming CAF’s commitment in Tanzania, Motsepe sought to quell speculation and redirect global attention to the progress being made in Nairobi, Kampala, and Dar es Salaam.

“This has been the single most successful AFCON in the history of the competition – the quality of the football has been world-class as has the quality of the stadiums and the infrastructure,” Motsepe told reporters in Rabat on the eve of Sunday’s AFCON final between the hosts and Senegal.

Morocco is gearing up to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal and could be a candidate to stage the planned 2028 edition of AFCON as a further dry run for that.

Confederation of African Football president Motsepe said he has had “so many countries that want to host 2028” as he insisted that the 2027 Cup of Nations will go ahead in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as planned.

The countries jointly hosted last year’s African Nations Championship – a tournament for national teams using only locally-based players – although that competition was postponed from the beginning of the year to August to allow more time for work on facilities.

“Part of being a leader is to deal with difficult and unpleasant decisions which we have to take,” said the South African.

“I have a duty to develop football all over Africa – I can’t have football only in those countries with the best infrastructure, but I am confident that the AFCON in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will be enormously successful.

“We are not going to take the competition away from these countries.”

It will be the first AFCON to take place in the region since Ethiopia hosted in 1976 and comes just before the tournament switches to taking place every four years – it has usually been held every two years since the first edition in 1957.

Motsepe announced that controversial change on the eve of the tournament in Morocco and on Saturday insisted that it had not been a case of caving in to pressure from leading European clubs or world governing body FIFA.

“We have to free ourselves as Africans and not think whenever we take a decision it is because FIFA says this or Europe says this,” he said, while adding that “there are times when you have to make concessions.”

Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), praised the “deep commitment” to Afcon expressed by all three of the countries’ heads of state.

“We are very strict in terms of the requirements that we are placing on these countries, both in terms of freedom of movement in and out of the countries – and the support, infrastructure and co-operation,” said Motsepe, speaking in Cairo after announcing the result alongside Morocco’s appointment as 2025 hosts.

“We will be sending teams on an ongoing basis to evaluate the progress being made. The key is that we are absolutely determined to maintain the highest possible standards for African football.”

The Caf president said he would “hold their hand” and promised Afcon 2027 would be “a huge success”.

Challenges ahead for Afcon hosts

Motsepe said he wants Afcon to match the standards of tournaments held by European body Uefa and South American counterparts Conmebol.

By Wednesday evening, the winners’ celebrations had been superseded by a focus on the challenges ahead, according to Rogers Byamukama, a board member of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA).

“From now on, we are going to get our hands dirty and work alongside our counterparts in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to ensure the stadiums are ready by December 2025, which is a requirement,” Byamukama told the BBC World Service’s Newsday.

“It is a momentous occasion and we are excited. We are grateful for the opportunity and we look forward to hosting an extremely amazing extravaganza when the world will come to East Africa.”

Caf, which stripped Guinea of the 2025 tournament because of concerns over infrastructure and facilities, also considered bids for the 2027 finals from Egypt, Senegal and a joint entry from Botswana and Zambia, with Algeria withdrawing on the eve of the vote.

The governing body requires bids to propose two stadiums with capacity for 40,000 fans, two capable of accommodating 20,000 fans and two suitable for at least 15,000 supporters.

In Kenya, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba announced plans last week to create a new 50,000-capacity stadium in Nairobi alongside improvements to the capital’s Nyayo National Stadium, the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret and the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, which hosted the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2021.

The country’s president, William Ruto, signed a $59.2m deal with a US foreign aid agency this month to buy electric buses to improve transport in Nairobi.

Kenya was awarded Afcon in 1996 but lost hosting rights because of a lack of readiness, suffering the same fate over the 2018 African Nations Championship as a result of “accumulated delays”.

Ugandan First Lady and Cabinet Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, has said that the home of the national team, the Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, which originally closed for renovations in October 2019, will reopen on 30 November and meet Fifa stadium standards.

The country’s state minister for sports, Peter Ogwang, apologised in parliament after the national team played an Afcon 2023 qualifier against Tanzania in Egypt in March because of a lack of available venues in Uganda.

The Akii Bua Stadium in Lira and a new stadium in Hoima could also stage matches, while Tanzania’s venues will include the 60,000-capacity Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium and potentially the Azam Sports Complex, which are in Dar es Salaam.

“It is possible to have a stadium which is good enough, from scratch to completion, in two years,” said Byamukama, adding that the East African bid stood out because of strong transport links, including across the largest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria, which is in Tanzania and Uganda and borders Kenya.

“All of the East African countries have national carriers that should help. It is less than an hour from Nairobi to Entebbe, Entebbe to Salaam and Salaam to Nairobi.

“Uganda uses the port of Mombasa and Salaam. There is a good road network.

“There were plans, even without Caf’s announcement, to extend the standard-gauge railway between Mombasa and Naivasha to Kampala by the end of 2025. The transport is the very best.”

The 2023 tournament will take place in Ivory Coast from 13 January until 11 February 2024. The draw will take place in Abidjan on 12 October at 1900 GMT.

READ ALSO

• Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania confirmed as 2027 AFCON host

• Morocco announced as official host of AFCON 2025

The  Executive Committee board of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the news today in Cairo, Egypt.

“And the country that will host the 2027 AFCON is Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania,” Patrice Motsepe, President of CAF announced.

“The three countries came together because our requirements are very high. I don’t want to mention any specific countries, but I like it when countries come together,” Motsepe added.

Senegal, Botswana, and Egypt were vying to host the 2027 AFCON, while Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have also launched a joint bid for the tournament.

The “PAMOJA Bid,” a joint effort from the aforementioned countries will see Africa’s flagship football tournament return to Eastern Africa for the first time since 1970, when Sudan hosted the tournament for the second time in history.

The committee also announced Morocco as the host of the 2025 AFCON.

Patrice Motsepe celebrated the news saying that the “future of African football has never been brighter.”

He also suggested that an African nation will win the World Cup in the near future.

The three East African neighbours have submitted a joint expression of interest with the Confederation of African Football (Caf), the governing body that organises the biennial tournament.

Three other nations have also registered interest – Algeria, Botswana and Egypt.

Egypt hosted Afcon as recently as 2019, while earlier this year Algeria hosted the African Nations Championship (Chan) – the pan-continental tournament for locally-based players – meaning those two countries are unlikely to struggle when it comes to infrastructure requirements.

However, it is unclear how much investment will be needed to allow either Botswana’s or the joint East African bid to succeed.

Until last week, Botswana’s bid was also due to be a joint one, but Namibia dropped out at the last minute, citing financial concerns.

Kenya has just one stadium approved for international games by Caf, the Nyayo National Stadium in its capital Nairobi.

READ ALSO

• CAF confirm kick off date for 2024 AFCON in Ivory Coast

• 2023 AFCONQ: Chris Hughton commends Black Stars team spirit after holding Angola in Luanda

The country was stripped of the right to host the 2018 Chan just four months before the finals because several venues were not ready.

In December, the Kenyan government released a statement about its prospective 2027 bid revealing its cabinet had “sanctioned the revitalisation of football as a key cog of our nation’s social fabric” in a bid “to revive the prospects of Kenyan football”.

“This national effort will encompass the rebuilding of the national men’s team and women’s team,” the statement added.

The four bids now have until 23 May to submit final official plans before inspection visits in June and July.

Caf is yet to make a decision on who will host the 2025 Afcon, having stripped Guinea of the right in October due to insufficient preparation.

The Kenyan government has sanctioned the plan, with the ultimate aim of qualifying for the men’s World Cup for the first time in 2030.

The Harambee Stars have played at the Nations Cup just twice since 1993, and were barred from qualifiers for the 2023 finals because the country was serving a ban from global football.

That sanction, imposed by world governing body Fifa, was lifted last month.

However, Kenya would need to invest in stadia and infrastructure to be able to host the tournament.

Cameroon used six venues to host the delayed 2021 edition earlier this year, while Kenya has just one stadium approved for international games by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

That is the Nyayo National Stadium, which is in the capital Nairobi.

Kenya was stripped of the right to host the 2018 African Nations Championship four months before the finals because several venues were not ready to stage the event.

A statement from the Kenyan government said its cabinet had “sanctioned the revitalisation of football as a key cog of our nation’s social fabric” in a bid “to revive the prospects of Kenyan football”.

“This national effort will encompass the rebuilding of the national men’s team and women’s team,” the statement added.

“Cabinet noted that the joint bid would deploy the power of sports in furthering regional integration.”

READ ALSO

• World Cup 2022: Samuel Eto’o apologises after altercation with man in…

• World Cup: Rating every member of Ghana’s squad

Potential co-hosts alongside Kenya for the 24-team tournament would be neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania, but neither have commented on the statement by the Kenyan government.

Botswana and Namibia have already announced a joint bid for the 2027 edition of the Nations Cup.

Meanwhile, Caf’s process to choose a new host for the 2025 finals is still ongoing, with a deadline on 16 December for finalised bids – including documents, proposed host cities and government guarantees – to reach its Cairo headquarters.

The finals were initially awarded to Guinea, but the West African country was stripped of hosting rights at the start of October because of a lack of suitably advanced infrastructure and facilities.

Guinea had nearly a decade to prepare for the finals, having originally been named as host of the 2023 Nations Cup in 2014, but were then asked to host in 2025 instead.

Last month Ivory Coast’s government signed a formal hosting agreement with Caf for the 2023 Nations Cup, which will actually take place in early 2024.