Football: which host country for CAN 2025?

**The 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations will take place in three years. It remains to designate the country that will host this football festival on a continental scale. Guinea, host country designated in 2014 lost Friday, the organization of this competition. **

''Guinea is not ready'' is how the South African Patrice Motsepe justified the decision of the African football confederation. A verdict which was in the pipes in reality since July specified the boss of the CAF during a press conference Friday in Conakry.

Transition Priority

Mamady Doumbouya certainly did not appreciate the decision. For the lieutenant-colonel, it can be considered as a rebuff. The president in trellis having made the organization by his country of this event, '' the priority of the transition ''.

A desire clearly displayed in August, when a CAF assessment mission was packing its bags in the Guinean capital. "The president of the transition Colonel Mamady Doumbouya made it one of his transition levers today by saying that if there is only one thing that we will have achieved during this transition, if it is the organization of this event (African Cup of Nations 2025 Editor's note), we will have succeeded in our transition.'' Tried to reassure  Lansana Béa Diallo , Guinean Minister of Sports, while acknowledging that his country had fallen behind. 

Colonel Doumbouya had already appointed a new organizing committee in March, ousting the old team, one of whose members publicly expressed his doubts as to the feasibility of the project. But the way to go to hold the bet exceeded without any doubt, the “good intentions” of the military authorities. Infrastructure, sports equipment, accommodation, transport and others left many observers just as skeptical. 

The political and economic context of the country, at odds with the economic community of West African states, was in the opinion of many, the thorn in the side of the country. The possibility of a postponement to 2026 or 2027 would have even been mentioned to save the “CAN of Guinea”.  

Candidates expected

Exit the country of Douboumya, CAF is now awaiting applications from countries interested in organizing the queen of football competitions on the continent. The speculations are going well. Morocco and South Africa are presented as serious candidates for the seat left vacant by Guinea. The Cherifian kingdom hosted the tournament for the last time in 1988. It had refused to organize the 2015 edition against the backdrop of the Ebola virus . While Mandela's country hosted CAN 2013 .  

Lately, the organization of the African cups of football nations has been far from being a calm river: after having entrusted Egypt with the organization of CAN 2019, following the delay taken by Cameroon, the CAF had shifted the calendar, attributing the next edition, in 2021, to Cameroon precisely, and that of 2023 to Côte d'Ivoire. Guinea had agreed to organize the 2025 edition.

Guinea, which has not yet digested its disillusionment, is invited to look to the future: ''the work begun by Guinea should encourage it to apply for the organization of competitions'', declared Patrice Motsepe on Friday. Still it will be necessary that the CAN, remains a priority, in a country which must organize elections for a return to the civil order.