The choice is made. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) designated, Wednesday September 27, the countries which will organize the final phases of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2025 and 2027. The executive committee of the body, meeting in Cairo, announced that Morocco will host that of 2025. For 2027, it is the Kenya-Uganda-Tanzania trio which won against Senegal, Botswana and Egypt. A choice which confirms CAF’s desire not to organize the competition twice in a row in the same geographical area, but which surprised several players in African football, since only Tanzania currently has an approved stadium, Dar es Salaam.
The announcement of the body was preceded, the day before, by a twist: the withdrawal of the candidacy of the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) for the two editions. In its press release, it motivated its decision by its desire to “concentrate its efforts on the reorganization and revitalization of its football”.
In the process, several other candidate countries (Zambia and the Nigeria-Benin duo) in turn withdrew, leaving Morocco alone in the running to obtain the organization of the tournament in 2025. Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF, estimated that these withdrawals were made in the name of the principle “of solidarity” with Morocco, candidate for the organization of the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal. An unconvincing argument regarding Algiers, at loggerheads with its Moroccan neighbor.
On September 26, while the presidents of the federations of the candidate countries for the 2025 and 2027 CANs were in Cairo, Walid Sadi, elected on September 21 at the head of the Algerian Football Federation, was received by Abdelmadjid Tebboune, The head of state. “The withdrawal is logicalestimates the former Algerian international, Meziane Ighil, candidate for the presidency of the FAF. We had the impression that everything had been decided for a long time. Algeria did not want to participate in this unhealthy game”adds Mr. Ighil.
“The dice were loaded”
Algiers, which only organized the competition once in 1990, nevertheless had a solid file to host the CAN. “Stadiums have been built and renovated, the Mediterranean Games took place in Oran in 2022, the African Nations Championship [CHAN] and the CAN under 17 this year, in good conditions. The country has good structures, but we quickly understood that CAN 2025 would take place in Morocco”continues Meziane Ighil.
Algerian officials had little sympathy for the speech that Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, gave in June to the National Assembly. “The Fez stadium will host CAN 2025 matches when Morocco wins the organization”declared the politician. “The dice were loaded in advance. But I am not sure that Algeria would have reacted the same way if Morocco had not been concerned.admits a former club manager, referring to the recurring diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Jean-Baptiste Guégan, teacher and author of Geopolitics of sport: another explanation of the world (ed. Bréal by Studyrama, 2022), says ” surprised “ by the Algerian decision : “First of all, the timing is important. Withdrawing the day before the examination of the files will not strengthen the credibility of Algeria when it is a candidate for the organization of another competition. The political power is clearly working against its federation, because Algeria had the possibility of challenging Morocco. »
The press release from the federation to announce the withdrawal of the dual Algerian candidacy “is clever but leaves me doubtfulf, he adds. Algeria is a great football country, it has managed to organize certain recent competitions. There, she leaves a boulevard in Morocco, but she is once again frowned upon by the CAF after the episode of the last CHAN [le Maroc avait renoncé à disputer le tournoi après que le pouvoir algérien a refusé que les Marocains rejoignent directement Constantine depuis Rabat, l’espace aérien étant interdit aux appareils du royaume]. »
“This withdrawal is regrettable, agrees the leader of a sub-Saharan federation. Algeria seems to be closing in on itself, when it should be a power in Africa. Morocco has understood this well with effective sports diplomacy by establishing numerous partnerships with African federations and a federation president who has the trust of King Mohammed VI and the resources that go with it.. »