By Brian Okoth
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has welcomed a joint bid to host the 2027 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) alongside East African neighbours, Kenya and Uganda.
“Hosting the tournament will boost sports sector in the region, especially football,” Suluhu said in a statement on Wednesday.
At the same time, the Head of State said a successful AFCON bid will boost East Africa’s tourism.
“More than one billion people in Africa and other parts of the world watch AFCON, and therefore it presents an opportunity for us to grow our respective tourism sectors,” she said.
Besides tourism, the local economies would also benefit from the increased number of visitors into the three nations during the continental competition, said Suluhu.
She further said that her government has put in place adequate measures, through the Sports ministry, to ensure that the tournament would be successfully held in the country.
Kenyan President William Ruto had, on May 15, welcomed the proposal for a joint AFCON bid.
“We hope that our joint bid will motivate all our sides to not only qualify for the 2027 tournament, but also excel beyond previous achievements,” said Ruto during a press conference at State House, Nairobi.
Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni on May 22 received the bid to co-host the football tournament.
“For East Africa to come together to invite the Africa Cup [of Nations] to come here, is very good. It will promote our countries, and tourism will also be boosted,” he said at State House, Entebbe.
The East African nations are facing competition from three other countries. Algeria, Botswana and Egypt have presented individual bids.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) set May 23, 2023 as the deadline for submission of hosting bids.
Between June 1 and July 15, CAF will do inspection visits to the countries that would have submitted their bids. They would evaluate the state of football stadia, among other facilities.
On August 15, the Executive Committee of CAF will reveal the successful applicants.
Nyayo National Stadium in Kenya and Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Tanzania are the only two stadia in the East African region approved by CAF to stage international matches.
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana have never hosted the AFCON before.
Namibia had expressed interest to host the AFCON 2027 contest alongside Botswana, but withdrew due to financial reasons.
Egypt is aiming to stage the event for a record sixth time, having previously hosted the games in 1959, 1974, 1986, 2006 and 2019.
Ivory Coast will host AFCON 2023, which will take place between January 13 and February 11, 2024.
The tournament had been scheduled to be held in Guinea before the country was stripped of the rights after saying it was not ready.
It was then moved to 2024 to avoid Ivory Coast’s rainy season.
