CAF strips Cameroon off its AFCON 2019 hosting rights, other countries interested have 21 days to bid
Confederation of African Football (CAF) has stripped off the right to host the 2019 African Cup of Nation’s (AFCON) tournaments from Cameroon.
This follows a decision taken by CAF at a meeting held on Friday, November 30, in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
The meeting which was made up of the confederation's executive committee, opted to re-open bidding for the tournament, due to Cameroon’s inability to prepare adequately before the tournament.
According to reports, the final round of inspections in Cameroon which was undertaken by CAF and an independent auditor, Roland Berger, have prompted the conclusion that the Central African nation is not in a position to host the tournament.
Earlier this year, the President of CAF, Ahmed Ahmed told reporter that, although Cameroon has some ongoing project done to host the AFCON, it was still not enough to fully state that they were ready. This hence has brought about the decision because even today, Cameroon cannot emphatically state its readiness to host the tournament.
The bid for hosting became contentious when CAF decided to expand the team to contest the tournament from 16 teams to 24 teams.
President Ahmed Ahmed has reportedly told assembled journalists that any countries interested in putting themselves forward as potential hosts have 21 days to present their candidacy.