The East Africa’s Pamoja Bid by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to host the 2027 African Cup of Nations has been approved.
The joint bid beat other bids from Botswana, Egypt and Senegal which had also shown interest to host the tournament.
The AFCON event which is hosted every two years, is planned and funded by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), a continental football governing body.
Speaking during the announcement event, CAF president Patrice Motsepe underlined the importance of the three nations meeting the required standards.
“You have all the heads of states, President Ruto, President Museveni and President Samia expressing deep commitment.
“I just want to say we are very strict in terms of the requirements that we are placing on these countries both in terms of freedom of movement of people in and out of the country and the support of the infrastructure. We will be sending teams to form an evaluation of the progress that has been made,” he stated.
During the bidding, Kenya fronted the plans to revamp Kasarani Stadium, Nyayo Stadium, and Kipchoge Keino Stadium to meet the required international standards.
The Kenyan government is also planning to build the Talanta Stadium at the Jamhuri Sports Grounds in Nairobi.
Kenya is no stranger to hosting privileges, having been selected to host the 1996 edition of the AFCON but then stripped of the honour due to her stadiums failing to meet the required international standards.
CAF in 2018 also stripped Kenya of the rights to host the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) owing to lack of enough facilities.
Also Read: Inside President Ruto’s Plan to Host the 2027 Afcon in Kenya
