The African Football Confederation judges that the infrastructure and the equipment will not be ready for the holding of the event in 2025. It is a backhand for the power junta in Conakry.
Le Monde with AFP
Guinea will not welcome the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in 2025. The president of the African Football Confederation (CAF), the South African Patrice Words, made the trip to Conakry, Friday 30 September, to inform the junta in power of a decision which, he then said before the press, dates back to July.
“Tomorrow, CAF will be asked to receive new candidates because in the current state, infrastructure and equipment are not suitable or ready so that CAF can accommodate [CAN] in 2025 in Guinea “, did he declare. CAF brings together its executive committee on Saturday.
This is a new setback for the queen competition on the continent. In 2014, the CAF had at the same time awarded the next three editions of CAN: 2019 in Cameroon, 2021 in Côte d’Ivoire and 2023 in Guinea. After the withdrawal of Cameroon for the benefit of Egypt in 2019, the CAF had shifted the calendar, attributing the 2021 edition to Cameroon, and that of 2023 in Côte d’Ivoire. Guinea had agreed to organize the 2025 edition.
But it is also a severe blow to Guinea. Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who came to power by force in September 2021, had expressed his firm intention to honor the meeting. Doubt has never been dissipated, however. Organize this event promised to be a major challenge for one of the poorest countries on the planet, which is sorely lacking in infrastructure for this type of competition, whether sporting equipment or transport.
A subject “of national and priority interest”
Guinea has a recent stadium in the capital and another more dilapidated likely to host such an event, but the interior of the country is devoid of it and construction works have barely started.
Colonel Doumbouya had appointed a new organizing committee in March, ousting the old team, one of the members of which publicly expressed their doubts about the feasibility of the project. He had ended a decree declaring the organization of the CAN 2025 “of national and priority interest” at the end of August. It was the day before the arrival of a CAF assessment mission.
At the time already circulated information as to a decision taken by the CAF in July to withdraw the organization in Guinea. The reasons why the doubt was not lifted before Friday are not clear.
According to the Guinean Minister of Sports, Lansana Béa Diallo, the mission of the CAF who came in early September had suggested the possibility of a postponement to 2026 or 2027. But Colonel Doumbouya had dismissed this hypothesis and was committed to What the competition takes place in Guinea in 2025, he said.
“The CAN-2025, which had been attributed to Guinea, we are not ready [to welcome him] for the moment in Guinea, and we must reopen this process,” said Mr. Words on Friday. The work started by Guinea must encourage it to apply for the organization of competitions, he added without specifying to what events it was referring.