26 Sep 2023

The day that many Batswana have been eagerly waiting for has finally arrived.

Tomorrow around midday, Botswana will know if it has been granted Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 hosting rights.

Africa’s football governing body, Confederation of African Football (CAF) has converged at its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, and at the top of the agenda will be the announcement of hosts countries for the 2025 and 2027 AFCON tournaments respectively

Botswana is in the running for hosting Africa’s football showpiece in 2027 with Algeria, Senegal, East African countries joint bid of Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, another joint bid of Nigeria and Benin.

Botswana’s Bid Committee chairperson, Ashford Mamelodi said in an interview that they had met all the requirements adding that they had submitted the bid book and government had signed guarantees.

Now, he said all was in the hands of CAF to decide which bid came out tops.

Botswana Television (Btv) sport presenter, Tumo Mpatane, who has been following the developments, said Botswana had the best and comprehensive bid.

“Botswana’s bid is one of the best if you compare it with any from the continent and government is fully behind it,” he said.

However, he is of the view that the bid committee could have done more by visiting other countries to lobby for support. “I expected them to be unapologetic and aggressive about how they go about their business of wanting the bid to come to Botswana,” he said.

He said CAF executive committee members would vote through a secret ballot and that he said could give Botswana a good chance than when voting in an open ballot system.

“During secret ballot, people will vote with their conscience and will look at very important issues that AFCON needs to be shared as a property.

And I think reforms should also be put in place as to how the tournament should be rotated,” he said. ENDS