2027 EAC 'Pamoja' Afcon bid presented to Caf
Uganda President Yoweri Musveni (left) and First Lady Janet Museveni (centre) receive the 2027 joint Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) bid document at State House, Entebbe on May 22, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Neighbours Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have come together under the EAC “Pamoja” bid to bring Afcon to the East Africa region for the first time in history by bidding to host the 36th edition of the continental showpiece.
- Botswana, Algeria and Egypt expressed individual interest to host the coveted extravaganza.
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), East African Commission (EAC) “Pamoja” bid has been received by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The bid documents were received by CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba in Cairo, Egypt on Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
Neighbours Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have come together under the EAC “Pamoja” bid to bring Afcon to the East Africa region for the first time in history by bidding to host the 36th edition of the continental showpiece.
Botswana, Algeria and Egypt expressed individual interest to host the coveted extravaganza.
And speaking on NTV’s Monday night live sports show – SportOn!, Mwendwa remained confident that this time round, Afcon might come to the region owing to the good will by the three governments.
Kenya’s President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni have received the joint bid at State House in Nairobi and Entebbe respectively and assured of their governments’ support.
Mwendwa said Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania ambassadors to Egypt were on Tuesday expected to “ensure the bid is in and meet the CAF GS (Mosengo-Omba)".
He said President Ruto also met CAF president Patrice Motsepe during his last week’s visit to South Africa to attend the Pan-African Parliamentary Summit.
“We have had virtual meetings every two days and the three ministers (Ababu Namwamba of Kenya, Peter Ogwang of Uganda and Pindi Chana of Tanzania) have attended all meetings. That is why I am very optimistic this time we can do it,” said Mwendwa.
The federation boss revealed that $90 million (Sh12 billion) is needed for the joint bid and that all the three federations obtained guarantees from their respective governments.
They agreed to provide $30 million each towards the same. CAF wants the money deposited by January 2025.On infrastructural cost, he said that the federation shared with the government the specifics of the facilities needed by CAF.
According to newafricanmagazine.com, Cameroon spent approximately$885m (about Sh121.3 billion) on infrastructural development for the 2021 Afcon. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have agreed to present three stadiums each to host the exciting matches.
Kenya has presented the iconic, 60,000-seater Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani, 30,000-seater Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi and Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret.
As their training grounds, Mwendwa said Nairobi presented MISC Kasarani Annex, Police Sacco Stadium, Kenya Utalii College Sport Club, Ulinzi Sports Complex and Jamhuri Sports Complex.
For Kipchoge Keino Stadium, the federation boss said they presented three training grounds.He said that Police Sacco Stadium and Ulinzi Sports Complex were assigned to Nyayo National Stadium while MISC Kasarani Annex and Utalii College Sports Club were allocated to MISC.
Jamhuri Sports Complex has been earmarked as the training ground for the match officials.
Should the EAC “Pamoja” bid go through, the eight venues presented for training are expected to get a major facelift since the CAF demands that they be of world class. They should have quality turf, enclosed washrooms and dressing rooms.
