Botswana-Namibia AFCON bid gains momentum

After more than 10 years since the Southern African region last hosted the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, Botswana and Namibia have announced that they are bidding for the 2027 AFCON and named it BONA2027.

The intention to bid for the 2027 AFCON was announced in a function in Windhoek, Namibia this past weekend and it was attended by the Ministers of Sport from the two countries.

The young and vibrant Botswana Minister of Sport Tumiso Rakgare has more on how this idea to bid came about and goes for co-hosting.

œMyself and the honorable minister had a chat about AFCON 2027 and the first thing honorable (Agnes) Tjongarero said was that: Minister that has been our dream as Namibia we are ready and we are in, we want to do it together, we want to join hands and bid jointly-we agreed, I think that was around 8th December and we made an agreement that we are going to speak to our principals being President (Hage) Geingob and President (Mokgweetsi) Masisi.

œThe two presidents then met not in Namibia-not in Botswana, I™m not sure where they met but they met to discuss what was put before them and they agreed that the two nations will bid for AFCON in 2027 jointly, since then we never looked back Rakgare explained.

They presented their case to all the 14 Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) and asked for their backing.

Only two COSAFA countries have hosted the AFCON tournament before, South Africa in 1996 and 2013 as well as Angola in 2010.

Rakgare said BONA2027 could be one of the biggest tournaments to have been held in this region.

The next AFCON tournaments will be in Ivory Coast next year, in Guinea in 2025 and both countries are in West Africa.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe also makes it clear that he is fully behind countries that have never held the AFCON before to get a chance.

œI encourage as much country as possible in the African continent to come together and put bids together, because it™s in line with this objective we have of greater unity, greater solidarity, great corporation.

"And the message that I gave to president of Namibia is the same message I gave to the president of Botswana and the other entire presidents that I meet in the African continent- we are excited come together, present a bid said Motsepe

The bid is expected to be launched in Gaborone, Botswana next month and Rakgare said they will be having legends from both sides who will be ambassadors.

A country like Namibia needs this AFCON tournament especially in the current climate, they cannot play their AFCON or World Cup qualifying matches at home because they don™t have stadium that is complying with the require CAF and FIFA standards.

The Brave Warriors play their matches in Johannesburg and the Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service Agnes Tjongarero is clear that they need this BONA2027 to succeed.

By Velile Mnyandu