The BFA is pushing ahead with plans to host the finals in seven years time. If Botswana succeeds, it would become the third Southern African country, after Angola and South Africa to host the tournament in its 64-year history. The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Tumiso Rakgare recently stated his desire to see Botswana host CAF’s flagship competition.
For his part, BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti said this week there is firm commitment to host the 2027 edition. “In the next four years we need to bid for the AFCON. It is a big project. It is the most interesting project that we have to put in place,” Letshwiti said. “The minister has made it very clear that he wishes Botswana could host, which actually means it is now a project that we have to work on. If the government had not given us an indication, we would not be working on it. There is a lot of buy-in from the government’s side.” He said authorities would assess infrastructure, amongst others, to gauge the country’s readiness. The country would be expected to build or upgrade a stadium to a 40,000-seater amongst others. Obedi Itani Chilume, the National Stadium and Lobatse Sports Complex have capacities just below 30,000. The next three AFCON editions will be played in West Africa. Cameroon will host the 2021 edition, while Ivory Coast will organise the 2023 competition. Guinea was chosen as the host for the 2025 edition.
