Three countries have submitted bids for the rights to host the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) following the Confederation of African Football’s decision to strip Kenya of the hosting rights.
Morocco, Ethiopia and Equatorial Guinea submitted their bids to the continental governing body, with all three confident of staging a successful tournament in January.
CAF nullified Kenya’s hosting rights following a final inspection of the East African country’s preparedness in September.
The inspection team pronounced Kenya’s preparedness to be inadequate, particularly stadia readiness.
During the week-long visit, the CAF officials were dismayed by a lack of readiness in three of the four proposed stadia, with two still at early construction stages.
Morocco is keen to host more competitions in a bid to convince FIFA that another African country is capable of hosting a World Cup. The North African country earlier this year announced plans to bid for the 2026 World Cup.
The country forfeited its chance to host the 2015 AFCON due to the then-Ebola pandemic that swept across West Africa. The tournament was then handed over to Equatorial Guinea.
Ethiopia on the other hand is hoping a recent boom in infrastructure will convince CAF to hand it the CHAN hosting rights. Officials in the country say everything is already in place to ensure a smooth tournament.
CHAN is a competition that brings together 16 national teams made up of players selected in their national championships. The 2018 showdown will be 5th edition of the tournament.
