Motsepe insists Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will host 2027 AFCON

CAF president Patrice Motsepe has reaffirmed that the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged in the PAMOJA region, despite continued reports from mainly European media questioning whether Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be ready.

Motsepe was speaking at the opening of the CAF Strategy Conference in Santa Maria, Cape Verde, where he repeated his position that the three East African countries remain CAF’s only plan to host the tournament.

“Plan A, Plan B and Plan C” are all Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, he said, with the competition scheduled to take place from 19 June to 17 July next year.

“We will be going to Pamoja, and we will be going to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and we are going to enjoy the most successful AFCON,” Motsepe said.

“Are there challenges? There will always be challenges, but I had wonderful meetings with the respective heads of state.”

The tournament’s preparations have attracted particular concern in Kenya, where CAF has carried out repeated inspection visits. Questions have been raised over the slow progress of work at Kasarani Stadium, as well as at the newly constructed 60,000-capacity Talanta Stadium.

SABC Sport understands that CAF’s Inspection Committee has been dissatisfied with the pace of Kenya’s preparations when compared with progress in Uganda and Tanzania.

Motsepe said he had discussed the tournament with the presidents of Tanzania and Kenya and would soon meet Uganda President Yoweri Museveni. Preparations for AFCON 2027 are expected to be a key subject of that meeting.

Despite the concerns surrounding the speed of construction and wider preparations, Motsepe said he had been encouraged by the commitments made by the governments of all three host nations.

He also linked the tournament to football’s wider role in bringing people together, saying he had held discussions with the United Nations and nineteen heads of state from around the world.

“I had meetings with the United Nations as well as with nineteen heads of state from around the world to discuss using football as a tool to unite our people across different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds,” he said.

The CAF conference is being held under the theme: “Making football in CAF’s 54 member associations world-class and self-supporting to uplift CAF competitions to be globally competitive.”

Motsepe said the organisation’s attention must now remain on developing football as a sustainable business and improving the competitiveness of CAF’s competitions globally.