Izuchukwu Okosi
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will visit Nigeria and Benin Republic between March 31 and April 2 following the announcement of the dates for inspection of facilities in the countries that have experessd interest in hosting the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria and neighbours, Benin Republic have submitted a joint bid to co-host the tournament in 2025 and will face competitions from Zambia, Morocco, and Algeria who also submitted bids for the hosting rights.
CAF’s inspection visits will commence in Southern Africa, with Zambia being the first country to receive CAF inspectors from March 20-22, followed by Morocco from March 24-26. Algeria will be the third candidate country to be visited by inspectors from March 27-29.
The fourth and final inspection visit will take place in Nigeria and Benin from March 31 to April 2.
Nigeria have hosted the AFCON twice, first in 1980 and together with Ghana in 2000 – the first time two nations co-hosted the continent’s premier championship.
Central Africa’s Cameroon hosted the last edition. In contrast, West Africa’s Ivory Coast will host the next edition, and a nation outside those two regions is being tipped to host the next edition.
Guinea was set to be the original host of the 2025 tournament, but CAF stripped it of hosting rights after affirming its inadequacy of hosting preparations.
