Postponing the African Cup of Nations due to the stadiums not being ready

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) postponed the Africa Cup of Nations competition for local players, which was scheduled between February 1 and 28 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, due to the unpreparedness of the stadiums, according to what it announced on its official website on Tuesday.

The competition, designated for players who are active in their country’s local competitions only, is held every two years, and the draw for it is scheduled to be drawn on Wednesday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The federation said, “Good progress has been made in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda regarding the construction and modernization of main stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure in preparation for successfully hosting the African Cup of Nations for locals.”

He added, “But technical and infrastructure experts at CAF, some of whom were working in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, advised CAF that more time was needed to ensure that the infrastructure and facilities met the required standards.”

A source told Agence France-Presse that “the CAF delegation, which is inspecting the competition facilities, is not satisfied with the condition of the stadiums in particular, in addition to the lack of adequate training fields.”

The competition witnessed several setbacks, as no country applied to host it at first before CAF decided to assign it to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, as a kind of readiness test for the three countries that will host the 2027 African Cup of Nations.

The crises continued as a number of countries, including Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa, refused to participate in the qualifiers, which ended in December 2024 with 14 teams qualifying in addition to the three organizing countries.

Then South African CAF President Patrice Motsepe decided to invite the countries that did not participate in the qualifiers to participate in a playoff in which two teams would qualify for the finals, bringing the number of participating teams to 19 teams to be divided into 4 groups. The number of teams selected in the playoff or the timing of its holding has not yet been determined.