AFCON
Guinea stripped of hosting rights for 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
Guinea has been removed as host of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which says the country is not ready to hold the tournament.
It is the latest in a long line of editions of the competition to have had a disrupted build-up, with the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations the last not to have been moved either geographically or on the calendar.
A military junta has run Guinea since September 2021, when colonel Mamady Doumbouya appointed himself Interim President of the country.
“The Executive Committee was unanimous that Guinea will not be ready to host the competition,” the CAF said in a statement.
“The Executive Committee took a unanimous decision based on the report as submitted that the tournament be withdrawn from Guinea.
“The President suggested that a delegation be sent to Guinea to inform them of the decision taken by the Executive Committee.
“The Executive Committee resolved to send a delegation to Guinea to inform them of CAF’s decision to withdraw the Africa Cup of Nations, Guinea 2025 from Guinea.”
The CAF now needs a new host for 2025 and reports from Nigeria indicate the Nigeria Football Federation is plotting a joint bid with Benin.
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, as planned.
The 2013 version was held in South Africa, after it swapped 2017 hosting rights with Libya which was the scene of a civil war.
Due to the threat of Ebola, Morocco withdrew as host in 2015 and was replaced by Equatorial Guinea.
With conflict continuing in Libya, the CAF moved the 2017 tournament to Gabon.
Egypt then took over in 2019 from Cameroon over concerns that Cameroon could not deal with the move to a 24-team tournament.
The COVID-19 crisis and weather delayed a 2021 tournament supposed to be in Cameroon, which was scheduled for June and July in 2021 but moved to the start of the year due to heat concerns.
It was ultimately pushed back to 2022 because of the global health crisis.
As part of the domino effect caused by Cameroon’s withdrawal as 2019 host and later reinstatement for 2021, an Ivorian Africa Cup of Nations was delayed from 2021 to 2023 and Guinea’s right to hold the tournament moved to 2025.
Because of weather concerns, the next Africa Cup of Nations has already been moved to January 2024.
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AFCON
Prominent Libyan football official calls for tough sanction on those responsible for Super Eagles’ maltreatment
A prominent Libyan football official, Al-Siddiq Abu Hadima,has called for tough sanctions on the Libyan Football Federation officials responsible for the crisis that engulfed the suspended Libya-Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.
Hadima, a former president of the Al-Dhahra Club, asked for the dismissal and prosecution of those responsible for the crisis.
In a publication in Libya’s outlet. Al-Wasat, Hadima recommended that if such people failed to submit a report that will exonerate them when the Sunday 20 October deadline issued by CAF lapses, “then they must be prosecuted and permanently dismissed.”
Al-Wasat got Hadima’s comments from his post on Facebook and remarked that “this negligence – if it happened – constitutes a betrayal of trust and a lack of awareness of the gravity of responsibility.”
It will be recalled that the Nigerian delegation to the botched match was held up for close to 20 hours at an abandoned Labraq Airport where their aircraft already on descent was dangerously diverted to.
The Nigerians were left without food and water for nearly 20 hours. CAF has already strongly condemned the actions of the Libyans.
As an investigation into the botched Libya-Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations match, the Libyan FA secretary, Nasser Al-Suwaie has raised queries on the integrity of the personnel of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
In a report published in the online version of Libyaalahrar.tv, Al-Suwaie remarked that there may be collusion from some parties within CAF, but the position of the Libyan Federation is strong.
He added that the Libyan Federation did not change the course of the plane’s landing to Al-Abraq Airport, and the reason for changing the plane’s landing to Al-Abraq was a decision by the Libyan state, and that the sovereignty of the Libyan state must be respected by everyone.
He however was silent on why the team was held hostage at the Al Abraq Airport and why the Libyan FA did not provide any logistic support to the Nigerian team that was held up at the airport for more than 16 hours without food and water.
Sources in Libya have confirmed that the Libyan Football Federation is under investigation over the botched Libya-Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations qualifier which failed to hold last Tuesday.
Nasser Al-Suwaie, Secretary-General of the Libyan FA, reportedly confirmed that the body has been queried by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The Libyan FA has been asked to submit documents related to the cancellation of the match.
According to Libya Al-Ahrar, the FA has given them up till Sunday 20 October to submit the documents related to this file.
The Libyan FA secretary general, Al-Suwaie indicated that the body has assigned a specialized lawyer to provide evidence.
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