Algeria to rival Benin and Nigeria for Afcon 2025 hosting rights

Following Guinea’s disqualification from hosting the 2025 African Cup of Nations, Algeria has expressed its desire to host this biennial African showpiece. The decision to strip Guinea of the hosting rights was made earlier this month when CAF president Patrice Motsepe visited Conakry for a discussion with Colonel Mamady Doumbouya. The decision dates back to July.

According to Motsepe, the decision was made as Guinea won’t be ready to host the African Cup of Nations by 2025. However, Guinea isn’t the first country to have been stripped of the AFCOn hosting rights.

Cameroon was stripped of the hosting rights for the 2019 AFCON tournament as it wasn’t considered ready for this event. However, the country was awarded the hosting rights for the 2021 AFCON tournament, which was hosted earlier in 2022 due to delays caused by the lockdown. Nonetheless, football punters still got the opportunity to wager on the event, by redeeming the bet365 bonus code on one of the top bookmakers available online.

According to Motsepe, the West African nation won’t be in a position to host the tournament due to the bad state of its facilities and infrastructure. That means they’re not in a position to host such a world-class event at the moment.

Following the disqualification of Guinea from hosting the event, Nigeria and Benin have submitted a joint bid to host the tournament. However, Algeria is set to rival Benin and Nigeria for the hosting rights.

According to Algeria’s minister of sports and youth affairs, Abderrazak Sebgag, its time for the country to organize a major sports event. The Algerian minister revealed they will present an excellent file to earn the hosting rights for the 2025 AFCON tournament.

Earlier in July, Former Nigerian Football Federation boss Amaju Pinnick revealed the country is likely to co-host the competition with Benin. The sports minister endorsed the country’s move to bid for the hosting rights, saying it’s high time the country hosted an international tournament.

With the entry of Algeria in the competition, Nigeria and Benin might have a tough time getting the nod from CAF to host the event. The Algeria Football Federation president Zefizef Djahid said he believes the country has all the capability to host the 2025 AFCON tournament.

Algeria lastly hosted the 1990 African Cup of Nations, when the Desert Foxes crashed Nigeria at the finals hosted at Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers. The North African nation hopes the Confederation of African Football will find them worthy of hosting the event in the coming months.