July 28, (THEWILL) – Nigeria has submitted a bid to co-host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), according to Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Pinnick cited the political turbulence, chaos, and instability in Guinea, which has been governed by the military, since a coup last year. However, according to a top official of Africa’s football governing body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), neither the Federation nor Guinean football officials have considered such a possibility.
For CAF, the status quo has not changed despite certain media rumours suggesting the tournament could be transferred outside of Guinea. The official said: “The host for the 2025 tournament remains Guinea and that has not changed.
“We’ve not discussed anything about a replacement or received any communication from Guinea about the inability to host. At this very moment, everything is on track for Guinea to host and there is no reason to suggest otherwise.”
After CAF altered its hosts for the 2019 edition, as well as for the 2021 and 2023 tournaments, Guinea accepted an invitation to host the 2025 Nations Cup in January 2019. Nonetheless, Pinnick, a member of FIFA’s governing council, is sure that Nigeria can get the rights to co-host the tournament with its neighbour Benin in 2025.
This comes despite raucous crowd response to Nigeria’s inability to secure a World Cup ticket against Ghana that left the recently refurbished Moshood Abiola Stadium needing repairs, a cash strapped economy that left athletes protesting for allowances and bonuses and focus required for the next general elections.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
