The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament will be staged in Egypt between June and July, as confirmed by Caf on Tuesday
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) 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 an expanded 24-team tournament.
Caf was expected to make an official announcement on Wednesday, but the decision was brought forward to Tuesday.
Egypt received 16 votes to South Africa’s one, Caf confirmed in a press conference.
Breaking: Egypt @EFA will host the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations — CAF (@CAF_Online) January 8, 2019
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 at football matches has decreased 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.
The South African government expected Caf to provide details of what was expected from them before agreeing to help Safa, but the process never followed through.
Egypt, who won the Afcon trophy a record seven times, will host the tournament for the third time in their history.
The last time they hosted the tournament was back in 2006 where South Africa crashed out in the group stages without registering a single win under the late Ted Dumitru.
Credit – Goal.com