By Spy Uganda
President William Ruto has congratulated the country, Uganda and Tanzania for winning a chance to jointly host the Africa Cup of Nations 2027.
The announcement was made during a Caf executive meeting at the headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, chaired by President Patrice Motsepe on Wednesday.
Ruto said that plans to change the Ministry of Sports are now taking shape.
He said that the countries will mobilise every resource and sector to deliver a world-class Afcon football.
“I have been informed that Kenya together with Uganda and Tanzania has managed to be the host of AFCON 2027, I want to thank the sports ministry that all the plans we had of changing the ministry have started taking shape,” he said.
The president added that many people had doubted that Kenya could get such a chance but it is now a reality.
“Many people did not believe that we had a chance of hosting the AFCON 2027 because of the state of our football and the state of our sports in general but I am very proud today that Kenya together with our partners in Kenya and Uganda have won this chance,” he said.
The three countries were seeking to host the continental event and thus placed a joint bid.
The East African nations beat Egypt, Senegal and Botswana.
Algeria were also in the running until the eve of the announcement when they withdrew their candidature.
The Caf meeting also gave Morocco the right to stage the 2025 finals.
The development is a huge relief for the three nations since none has ever hosted the event.
Only Kenya came close in 1996, when they won the hosting rights but was struck off for lack of adequate infrastructure, with South Africa stepping in.
South Africa went on to win the ’96 edition.