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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe has insisted that Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are ready to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
He acknowledged that Morocco’s staging of the 2025 tournament had set a new standard for the competition.
Motsepe told reporters in Rabat on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s final between Morocco and Senegal, that while the 2025 edition had been “the single most successful AFCON in the history of the competition,” with world-class football, stadiums, and infrastructure, CAF remains committed to holding the 2027 tournament in East Africa.
The South African football chief said that despite interest from other countries in hosting the edition, the 2027 Cup of Nations will proceed in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania as planned.
He stated that the trio had successfully co-hosted last year’s African Nations Championship, a tournament featuring national teams composed solely of locally-based players, noting that postponements last year had been made to allow sufficient time for facility upgrades.
Motsepe added that as CAF president, he has a responsibility to develop football across Africa and cannot focus only on countries with the best infrastructure.
He expressed confidence that the 2027 tournament in East Africa would be “enormously successful” and stressed that CAF would not take the competition away from these countries.
He further noted that the 2027 AFCON will mark the first time the tournament returns to the region since Ethiopia hosted in 1976 and comes as CAF transitions the competition to a four-year cycle, after holding it every two years since its inception in 1957.
Motsepe also addressed concerns that the scheduling change was influenced by pressure from European clubs or FIFA, stating that CAF must act independently as Africans and make decisions in the continent’s best interest.
He acknowledged, however, that “there are times when you have to make concessions.”
