The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has begun talks with Morocco over possible hosting of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations tournament as per Le Monde. It’s believed that Algeria and South Africa have both been contacted as well by CAF.
CAF is exploring alternative hosting options as concerns rise over infrastructure and preparedness of the three official East African countries that are cohosting the tournament. Although it had not been made official by CAF as at the time of this publication.
With nine months to go and stadiums running late in Kenya and Uganda, talk of moving the tournament won’t die down.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe has shut the door on moving the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, but his own words suggest the hosts are under real pressure.
Speaking at a press conference after touring the three co-hosting nations, Motsepe said CAF is working on “neither Plan B nor Plan C.” The remarks came a week before qualifying for the tournament kicked off on Thursday, September 24.
Yet he also admitted the clock is ticking. Construction delays, especially in Kenya and Uganda, have created what he called a situation of “great urgency” with nine months remaining. He plans to return for another inspection in January 2027.
Those mixed signals have revived speculation that the tournament could be handed to someone else should these nations not show readiness within the agreed time frame. Some reports claim CAF has privately contacted some countries to ask whether they could host the tournament if needed, without announcing it publicly.
Comoros football chief Saïd Ali Saïd Athouman named the obvious candidates: South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire. In his view, those five have enough approved stadiums to step in.
For now, CAF’s official line is unchanged, and the next inspection may decide whether the doubts are justified.
There have been clear historical precedents where CAF changed an African tournament’s host because of preparation problems, unpreparedness and other rising issues.
During the 2015 AFCON when Ebola broke out, Morocco was originally scheduled to host the tournament but had written to CAF to postpone it. CAF rejected the request and awarded Equatorial Guinea the hosting rights.
In 2017, Libya had been officially awarded the hosting rights of the 2017 AFCON but, due to the situation in Libya, the country withdrew as host. CAF subsequently opened a new bidding process, with Gabon eventually selected as host.
Kenya, who are co-hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations with Tanzania and Uganda, had their hosting rights for the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament withdrawn because of delays in preparation. Morocco hosted it that year.
This wouldn’t be a shock should Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya be stripped of the hosting rights due to delays in preparation.
Morocco had previously announced that it will no longer submit bids to host any CAF tournament following the aftermath of the 2025 AFCON when Senegalese players staged a walkout protesting unfair officiating during the final. Morocco subsequently called for CAF to sanction Senegal, who they believed had gone against CAF’s laid-down rules.
The process saw Morocco table a case and, after several reviews, CAF’s Appeal Board declared Senegal to have forfeited the final and recorded the result as a 3–0 victory for Morocco.
Despite the threat of not hosting the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, the tournament was played in Morocco.
This has in the years raised concerns amongst football administrators and enthusiasts if Morocco is now the headquarters of CAF and why it has gotten more hosting rights than other nations.
In the past five years, Morocco has hosted almost 15 CAF tournaments including CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup finals, AFCONs and others.
The 2027 AFCON which is scheduled to kick off on June 19, 2027 is expected to be the biggest tournament in history with three nations co-hosting for the very first time in history.
It is important to point out that the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), to be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will be the final edition of the tournament under the current two-year cycle.
From 2028, the AFCON will move to a four-year cycle, with the next edition scheduled for 2028. CAF has also introduced the African Nations League, which will be hosted yearly except for the World Cup year.
