Algeria has withdrawn its bid to host the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) a night before the potential hosts for the 2025 and 2027 AFCON areto be announced.
Algeria withdrew its bid to replace Guinea as the 2025 host for the African Cup Of Nations Tournament.
Guinea were stripped of the right to host the tournament last October owing to the fact that they lacked basic infrastructure and facilities.
Guinea’s replacement will likely be Morocco, while title holders Senegal are also among the favorites to be awarded the 2027 edition of AFCON.
Algeria, the North African country had been running to host the 2025 edition of AFCON but they withdrew at the last minute.
Why Did Algeria Withdraw Their Bid?
The withdrawal by the country was announced on Tuesday, 26th September, 2023 by Walid Sadi who claimed the move was motivated by a “new approach to the football development strategy in Algeria”.
The FAF also stated that its plans now are to “focus its efforts on the reorganization and revitalization of football in Algeria”.
This withdrawal has however boosted the chances of Morocco, Zambia, and a joint Nigeria-Benin bid as the remaining candidates for 2025.
CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, also confirmed that by saying: “We must not get involved in what is happening between Algeria and Morocco. Caf should never intervene in politics”.
CAF executive committee members are set to cast their votes on Wednesday after they previously monitored all of the bidding nations.
CAF President Reckons Challenges With Regional Rotation
Patrice Motsepe hailed the organizational abilities of both Morocco and Algeria before the northern African nation withdrew their bid.
Speaking on the vision for the regional rotation of AFCON, the CAF President revealed that: “We cannot assign the organization successively to the same region”.
After Motsepe’s revelation, CAF Secretary-General Veron Mosengo-Omba also confirmed that such rotation may not always be possible.
“Today, only five or six countries out of the 54 Caf members are able to apply to host (AFCON). Consequently, it will not be possible to make this alternation,” Veron said.
The voting will take place on Wednesday, 27th September, 2023 after Algeria backed down and it will reveal whether or not CAF intends to attempt a policy of regional rotation.
However, it will also determine whether the trend of recent dominance by North and West African nations will continue when it comes to hosting AFCON.