Motsepe maintains East Africa on course to host 2027 AFCON

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe has downplayed fears that East Africa is not ready to host 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The opening match will be played on Saturday, June 19th, and the final on Saturday, July 17th, as per the dates approved by the FIFA Council at its recent meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

CAF will announce the country that will host the opening match and the final in due course. The AFCON PAMOJA 2027 is the first to be hosted by three countries, presenting a unique opportunity for CAF and African football to reach over 400 million people in the East African region.

Motsepe plays down 2027 AFCON delays

“Are there areas where there’s room for improvement? Absolutely,” Motsepe told BBC Sports in Nairobi.

“But the commitment, the support from President Ruto (of Kenya), from Madam [President] Samia [Suluhu Hassan] in Tanzania, from President Museveni (of Uganda) is enormous.

“We’ve got people from CAF, who are permanently based in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and they are everyday working on the preparations and making sure that the Afcon which is going to take place in June 2027 is going to be successful.”

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Hussein Mohammed backed Motsepe’s comments by saying: “I have no doubt East Africa is ready and will deliver the best AFCON the continent and the world has ever seen.

Motsepe attended the Africa Forward Summit and inspected preparations for the PAMOJA 2027 AFCON, which Kenya is co-hosting.

“We do not intend to compete with Morocco as the Minister has alluded to. We are unique in East Africa and we will deliver a unique AFCON that has never been seen.

“In this regard, it is not just the hardware, being the facilities and stadiums but also the software. East Africa is known for its hospitality, we are known to be a hardworking population and we are known for delivering quality and we experienced that with CHAN.”

The 2027 AFCON will come after Morocco hosted the 2025 edition, which was widely praised as one of the best-organised in history.

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