Will Guinea Host AFCON 2023?

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) says it is considering a possible shift of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosting rights from Guinea.

The second Vice President of CAF Constant Omari says correct procedures were not followed by the previous regime when Conakry was granted hosting rights for the tournament.

“We have asked our general secretariat to review on Guinea hosting rights. Possibly they will now stage 2025 tournament,” revealed Omari in an interview on Radio France International on Saturday, as translated from French.

This comes just days after CAF president Ahmad Ahmad revealed that Cameroon, who were stripped of the hosting rights for the 2019 tournament as a result of security fears, will host the 2021 edition.

“We have seen that Cote d’Ivoire will not be ready to host AFCON in 2021. So the executive committee has confirmed Cameroon as host of 2021.”

“We have taken the decision for the good of African football on the basis of rules and regulations of the game in force,” said Ahmad.

Questions about Cameroon, Ivory Coast Guinea hosting the tournament first arose in April last year, when outspoken Zimbabwean Football Association (ZIFA) Philip Chiyangwa announced that he had written to Ahmad to withdraw the hosting rights from the francophone West African nations.

Countries struggling to meet deadlines for the building of stadiums, roads, medical facilities, and other infrastructure have been a Cup of Nations problem for decades.

Hosts Gabon were applying finishing touches to one stadium after the 2017 Cup of Nations kicked off.

The Cup of Nations finals, which began as a three-team event in Sudan in 1957, will expand to 24 countries from next year, up from the 16-team format used since 1998.

This means that hosts need six venues instead of four, putting an extra strain on the finances and resources of governments, who bankroll the tournament.

Morocco are considered favorites to replace Cameroon as 2019 hosts with South Africa, emergency hosts in 1996 and 2013, another possibility.