By Spy Uganda
The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Dr Patrice Motsepe, has encouraged Uganda and Tanzania to bid to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations – AFCON.
Motsepe, who is in the country on a two-day working visit met with the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, on Friday, 15 July 2022 alongside officials from the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA), said hosting AFCON for the two countries will boost their economy and development.
“I was told that Uganda and Tanzania are keen to host the 2027 AFCON. As the President of CAF, I have to support all the 54 nations ……I must say though that I will personally not just welcome but encourage a joint move because it will make a huge contribution to football development in Uganda and Tanzania,” Motsepe said.
He stated that the move will have a huge contribution to tourism, investment, and infrastructure development in the two countries. “I have seen what it has done to Cameroon and it will be an excellent move for Uganda and Tanzania,” he added.
Motsepe said that there are about nine countries that have expressed interest in hosting AFCON and it would be important for the East African region to host the tournament for the first time.
The CAF chief, who praised Ugandan born football star, Denis Onyango, currently based in South Africa, said that he was in the country to contribute to football development and that he had met with different people in the private sector to get partnerships rolling.
The Friday, 15 July meeting at Parliament in which CAF’s Motsepe encouraged Uganda to bid for the AFCON 2027
The Speaker revealed that President Yoweri Museveni had bought into Uganda co-hosting AFCON in 2027 and also commended Mostepe for his interest in developing talent in schools.
“We have so much talent that is untapped in Uganda, there is a group that is not in school because they have no finances but they have the passion for football. How do we tap into those talents? We have so many footballers the world over that have never gone to school but have performed very well,” she said.
Among added that football and sports, in general, unite people beyond culture, religion, and race. “Everybody loves football. When we are watching football, nobody talks about tribe, race or party,” she said.
