)
Kenya President William Ruto has promised he will offer his utmost support in his country’s bid to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations along with Uganda and Tanzania.
He also revealed the three countries will present the bid on Wednesday with confidence it will be approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
“This coming Wednesday we should be putting in our bid for Afcon 2027 as a joint ticket for East Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania and hopefully, I think we will get it,” Ruto said during a one-on-one interview with the media at State House, Nairobi, on Sunday.
“I put a commitment to Kenyans I will put more focus into sports if elected and I said we will try to host Afcon as a joint bid, and we are launching our bid on Wednesday,” he confirmed.
“We have a huge talent in Kenya and that is why I want to improve everything because I am now in charge.”
)
Ruto later insisted the three countries are full of confidence the bid will be a success: “I think we have a good team managing sports and I will work with them, we must turn it around.”
“We have a very big chance [to host Afcon] because we have the predictability, the financing, training and making sure the teams are in good shape.”
“I have asked Sports CS for Sports Ababu [Namwamba] to come up with a master plan, you will see a big difference in the country in terms of infrastructure, we are doing something about our stadia, we are going to invest in the infrastructure, invest in the training and invest in positive profiling of sports.”
This comes after Uganda's president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni already expressed readiness to support the cause.
“We have had discussions with the President of the Republic of Uganda, we are ready and willing to co-host Africa Cup of Nations 2027 with Tanzania. We have got clearance from our President, and we will be able to do that,” said the Speaker Anita Among.
Museveni, in 2022 during CAF President Patrice Motsepe's visit, said; "to FUFA President Hon. Magogo Moses Hassim, we have not really supported sports as much as we would have wanted except for providing peace. We are going to improve and there will be very serious support.”
Besides Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, CAF has already received interest from Algeria, Botswana, and Egypt to stage the continental showpiece.
Kenya won the right to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996, and in 2018 they won the bid to stage the African Nations Championships (CHAN), but they were later stripped of the rights due to a lack of infrastructure, on both occasions.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)