21 Aug 2022

Botswana and Namibia are working round the clock to ensure that once AFCON 2027 bid submissions open, they are well prepared to launch their campaign for hosting rights.

The bid committee recently identified four football luminaries from Botswana and Namibia to serve as bid ambassadors.

Bid committee spokesperson, Tuelo Serufho, said in an interview that the names of the ambassadors would be revealed in due course.

He said they found it prudent to continue preparing so that when CAF opened for submissions, BONA 2027 would not be caught napping. He said BONA 2027 bid ambassadors’ roles and responsibilities would be to assist with raising awareness on the socio-economic benefits AFCON 2027 would accrue to the region.

Serufho said they would also assist with bid activations, carrying out community outreach activities and conducting coaching courses besides providing mentoring services within and outside the two countries as part of BONA 2027 social responsibility.

Furthermore, he said the ambassadors would also use their networks and influence to assist the bid committee in lobbying as well as to share and promote AFCON competitions values.

He said should they be given hosting rights, the committee would not disappoint the two nations. “Neither Botswana nor Namibia has hosted AFCON in the past but we have extensive experience in major event organisation,” he said.

Serufho said the two countries had separately hosted different major competitions before, with Botswana hosting an Under 17 African Football Championship in 1997, African Youth

Games in 2014 and the Netball World Youth Cup in 2017 while Namibia hosted the Women’s Football Championships in 2014. Ends