13 Jun 2022

Botswana-Namibia (BONA) Bid Technical Committee will have to hit the ground running in a bid to secure the rights to jointly host the finals of the 2027 AFCON, following the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Friday.

“The Memorandum of Agreement facilitates the establishment of the bid technical committee, production of the bid document for submission to CAF in line with the set timelines and lobbying for support from various international structures. 

This also includes working through the formal bidding process for Botswana and Namibia,” said Namibia’s Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service, Agnes Tjongarero during the signing ceremony.

She said the two countries had agreed to collaborate on a 60:40 resource sharing principle, meaning that Botswana will contribute 60 per cent of the resources needed for the project while Namibia will contribute 40. 

The same principle shall apply to sharing of proceeds and benefits of hosting AFCON 2027.

Tjongarero said the agreement signified the official collaboration between the two governments, adding that it had been an exciting and eventful time for officials from the two governments who had worked together in the past five months to get the necessary protocols in place.

She said in the likely event the two countries were successful in securing the rights to host the AFCON finals, Namibia will host the opening ceremony and Botswana will host the closing ceremony and both the third-place playoff and final match. 

 In this arrangement, she said Botswana would host 24 of the 36 group stage matches, while Namibia will host 12.

“Botswana will host five of the eight-round of 16 matches, while Namibia hosts three.  The quarter-finals and the semi-finals will be shared equally between the two countries,” she said.

Tjongarero said there were documents that had been developed in the past five months that included the MoA, terms of reference for the bid technical committee, and the resource- sharing proposal.

The officials, he said, had also conducted a preliminary assessment of existing facilities while waiting for CAF to release guidelines for developing a Bid document for the 2027 AFCON finals.

Giving a brief background, she said the two countries’ heads of state once met and agreed on the possible co-hosting. She said subsequent to the meeting of the two heads of state the two governments agreed in February 2022 to co-host and ever since officials from the two countries had tirelessly been working to get ‘us where we are today’.

Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare expressed the need to arrest social and economic ills through sport. 

“Without doubt, the mileage and publicity that comes with hosting this prestigious tournament is incalculable. 

I believe BONA presents a compelling case to CAF to look at our proposition to host as a totally refreshing case,” he said.

He said the two countries’ dream was centred on a developmental ambition more than a mere 90-minute spectacle, given that it must be the footballers and its ancillary stakeholders who benefit from AFCON. 

Rakgare said the legacy of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was a quintessential example of how football had fundamentally could change the infrastructural development of a country. 

“The 2010 World Cup has demonstrated not just hope and faith; it has, without doubt, imbued all of us with the euphoria that anything is possible if you work towards a common goal and objective. 

I reiterate my commitment to this bidding process, and I pledge without an iota of doubt, Botswana’s commitment to the course,” he said. BOPA