- CAF President Patrice Motsepe has responded to a request to take the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) elsewhere
- Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are set to hold the tournament next year under the Pamoja banner, but have been accused of lacking infrastructure
- The final of the AFCON 2025 will take place on Sunday evening in Rabat between Senegal and the hosts, Morocco
A journalist from Ivory Coast has sparked outrage online after he asked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to strip East Africa of the hosting rights for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Source: UGC
The 2025 AFCON will end on Sunday when Senegal take on Morocco in the final game in Rabat before paving the way for the next edition set to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Journalist asks CAF to take AFCON 2027 elsewhere
CAF President Patrice Motsepe fielded questions from journalists on Saturday ahead of the final game in Morocco, where an Ivorian journalist slammed the state of infrastructure in East Africa.
The journalist, Mamadou Gaye, stated that the three countries do not have roads, and it might take up to ‘two days’ to get from one country to another.
“The next one is going to three East African countries where I have already been. There are no roads in the countries. Some of my colleagues from there told me it can take you two days to travel by road,” he said.
Gaye then added that his biggest worry was that AFCON 2027 standards would be lowered if the competition was taken to East Africa.
“My biggest worry, and others are worried as well, are we going to lower the standards by going to East Africa or what is the solution? This AFCON was supposed to be in Guinea, but they were not ready; that’s why it was brought here (Morocco). There are four or five countries that have the proper infrastructure to host AFCON. Is there any possibility that it can be taken away from those three countries or postponed again?”
Fans online reacted sharply to the questions, with many terming it as disrespectful to East Africa. Sirmoi Wekesa said,
“Such a silly question. Let him travel to EA, he will be shocked by the investments in infrastructure.”
Captain Fish said,
“He’s speaking on behalf of CAF to gauge the public reactions. Kenya was stripped of AFCON 1996 hosting last minute in favour of South Africa. CAF intentionally marginalises the East. Kenya is far ahead in infrastructure than many West African countries that have hosted it over the years.”
While Trav said,
“This is a fellow African who has this perspective about his own continent and expects foreigners to view us differently? For context Ivory Coast is not as developed compared to E.African cities.”
Source: Twitter
CAF president responds
President Motsepe quickly fired back at the journalist, insisting that he had a bigger role as a leader to take football everywhere.
“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,” he said.
AFCON 2025 prize money
In a different report, we explained how much Egypt will get after finishing fourth at AFCON 2025.
The Mohamed Salah-led team were beaten by Nigeria in the third-place playoff to settle for fourth place.
They will still be eligible for millions of shillings in prize money ahead of the final.
Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
