South Africa is not considering offering itself as an alternative host for the African Nations Championship (Chan) after Kenya was stripped of the rights last weekend‚ South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan said on Wednesday.
The Chan-2018 finals are now in limbo after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) decided Kenya was not capable of hosting the 16-team event. The decision was made by the Caf executive committee‚ which includes Jordaan‚ in Ghana at the weekend after an inspection team visited Nairobi.
Caf said there had been too many delays in putting together the 16-team tournament and opened bidding for a new host. Bids must be in by Sunday October 1, but will not include SA‚ which hosted the Chan-2014 tournament and, because of its ready infrastructure, is a country often turned to in moments of crisis and has served as an emergency host for Caf events.
"The problem for us is the release of players‚" said Jordaan‚ referring to the unwillingness of the Premier Soccer League to release players for national duty outside of dates on the co-ordinated Fifa international calendar. "It would be a fight to get a decent team and would offer few positive outcomes."
Morocco is likely to step in as it continues with promotional efforts to boost the country’s ties with other African states through football. It is also bidding to host the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Caf also needs a host for the 2020 African Women’s Championship after receiving no bids. SA hosted the event in 2000‚ 2004 and 2010, but Jordaan said SA would be keen on the 2024 African Under-23 Championship‚ which serves as the qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.
Egypt has taken over from Zambia as hosts of the next Under-23 Championship in 2020.
Source: Businesslive.co.za