THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) yesterday announced Egypt as the new hosts for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Egypt submitted their bid alongside South Africa to host the finals after the rights were taken away from Cameroon late last year.
According to CAF, Cameroon was not ready to host a successful and expanded 24-team tournament.
CAF was expected to make an official announcement today, but this was brought forward to Tuesday.
Egypt received 16 votes to South Africa’s one, CAF confirmed in a press conference.
Both Egypt and South Africa have extensive football facilities to host the tournament but reports suggest that there were reservations expressed about the low South African patronage of other teams.
Attendance to football matches has deteriorated in South African stadia in recent years, including Bafana Bafana matches, which could have had an impact on the country hosting a successful tournament.
While South African football fans were divided as to whether or not the country should bid for the tournament, the South African Football Association (Safa) never got the backing from the government which reportedly made it difficult for CAF to accept their bid. – Goal.com
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