Guinea stripped as Afcon hosts

Razeen Gutta

In another setback for the competition, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will no longer be hosted by Guinea, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) announced on Friday. 

In the past decade, the host nations for each edition of the tournament have been shuffled around numerous times — with the bidding now set to reopen for the 2025 spectacle. 

Caf president Patrice Motsepe said that the decision was taken in July already and cited infrastructure as the reason for Guinea being stripped of their host nation tag.

“We are not ready as of yet in Guinea, and we should reopen the process. I had insisted that that message should not go public, I should come personally here,” he said in a press conference. 

“Tomorrow Caf is going to be asked to receive new bids, because where we are now, the infrastructure and the facilities are not appropriate or ready.”

The news comes as a massive blow to the country. 

Despite the former organising committee in Guinea expressing their doubts at the possibility of hosting the competition, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya made it clear when he came into power a year ago that hosting the competition would be something “of national interest and priority”. 

President Motsepe added in his press conference that Caf has a “willingness to advise and work together with the football stakeholders to construct and build football infrastructure and facilities” in Guinea. 

He also announced that Guinea would be given the opportunity to bid with other competing nations for the African Nations Championships (Chan) following the 2023 edition in Algeria. 

Image source: @CAF_Media

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