26 Sep 2023

Today is D-day for the announcement of the hosting rights for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and will all the groundwork by bidding nations done, the ball is now in the court of the CAF executive committee to make a final decision.

Having started the bidding process about one and a half years ago, the Botswana delegation is confident that it will bring an early independence present for the nation from Cairo, Egypt and this is that they said.

BID committee chairperson Ashford Mamelodi: We have done our part. We were given the 10 minutes to fully present our bid and to highlight our intensions as a country. To be honest, we have done everything.

Botswana National Sport Commission chief executive officer Tuelo Serufho: We are very confident that we will win. We know there is stiff competition, but we believe we have put our best foot forward, and there are certain things that work for us. First of all, small countries have not hosted this competition before, so we are trailblazers, and secondly we have never have had AFCON in the southern part of Africa for quite a while.

The last one was in South Africa in 2013. Out of the 33 editions so far, only three have been in southern Africa; one in Angola and two in South Africa. Another thing that works for us is our country’s stability, but also as a bid committee, I think we were the most visible.

Botswana Football Association vice president Maokaneng Bontshetse: We are confident that we will be announced as the winners. From the COSAFA region, we have four votes and there is one from CAF president (Patrice Motsepe).

In addition, there are other federations that we have been working with which we know will vote for us. We need 12 votes if only two countries are contesting, but if there are more contestants, just eight votes would win us the bid.

The bid will be announced around midday time, and Botswana is competing with Senegal, East African joint bid consisting of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, and another joint bid by Nigeria and Benin. ENDS