AFCON bid faces hurdles
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday September 16, 2023 06:00
A three-member team of assessors presented their reports to the CAF executive meeting after touring bidding countries in July and August. One of the main issues which could prove to be a stumbling block is the construction of three new stadia within three years.
“There are concerns this might not be achieved within the given timeframe as the facilities have to be built from scratch,” a source close to developments said. “The other issue is that of a five-star hotel with up to 650 beds that will accommodate the CAF executive and other high-profile dignitaries. There is no five-star hotel in Gaborone at present and this is an area which will host most of the matches,” the source added.
The majority of the matches, if the bid is successful, will be played in the extreme southern tip of the country, with Gaborone, Gabane, and Lobatse as the chosen venues.
Other suggested areas are Francistown, Kasane, and Maun. In its more than 500-page bid document, Botswana had sought to impress CAF through the aesthetics of its stadia. The bid book was prepared for P65 million by South African consultant, Ruben Reddy Architects. Three new stadiums will be built from scratch, while the other three existing, the National Stadium, the Lobatse Sports Complex, and the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium, will undergo extensive facelift. Three new facilities will be in Gabane, Maun, and Kasane.
The bid committee has said with or without winning the bid, the upgrade and construction of new facilities will proceed, but on a reduced scale. While the stadia presented to CAF received public approval due to their attractiveness on paper, the independent evaluation commission was reportedly not entirely sold over. “The concern is the time frame as by 2026, the year before the AFCON finals, facilities should be ready and a test event should be held. Also, it will take a lot of money to undertake the project,” the source said. Botswana is attempting to bring the AFCON finals to southern Africa for the first time since 2013 when South Africa hosted. Only two southern African countries, Angola and South Africa, have hosted the biennial competition.
CAF will announce the 2025 and 2027 hosts after the meeting of its executive committee on September 27. “We will be meeting again in Cairo on Wednesday 27 September 2023 to discuss and take decisions relating to the countries that will be awarded the Total Energies AFCON 2025 and the AFCON 2027,” CAF president, Patrice Motsepe said in a statement after last week Thursday’s executive committee meeting.
Algeria, Morocco, Zambia, and the duo of Benin and Nigeria, are candidates to organise the CAN 2025. Algeria is also bidding for CAN 2027 against Botswana, Egypt, Senegal, and a ticket made up of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.