2023-04-19 18:45:47
Senegal has officially announced its candidacy for the organization of CAN 2027 through the voice of its Minister of Sports, Yankhoba Diatara.
The subject had been under discussion for several months now. Now it’s official: Senegal is presenting its candidacy for the organization of CAN 2027! A decision announced Monday by the Minister of Sports, Yankhoba Diatara, during his trip to Saint-Louis to chair a meeting of the Regional Development Committee. The politician revealed this information by explaining that the Me Babacar Seye stadium will be replaced by a sports complex comprising a new stadium and a Sports Palace (athletics track, arena, Olympic swimming pool) to make Saint-Louis a host city of CAN 2027. Very good news for the Senegalese people!
Yankhoba Diatara thus gave details on Senegal’s candidacy for the organization of CAN 2027. This project to relocate the Me Babacar Seye stadium, for an initial amount of 17 billion CFA francs for a capacity of 15,000 seats, will be increased to 30,000 seats with all the approval amenities worthy of an international stadium over an area of 15ha. We have the ambition to provide Saint Louis with a world-class stadium to host a pool during the CAN 2027 to the organization of which Senegal has applied “slipped the minister.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will jointly decide on the allocation of CAN 2025 and 2027 by next September. Senegal, defending champion after their victory in 2022, hopes to be able to continue in Ivory Coast in early 2024 then possibly in 2025 before defending their trophy at home two years later. Such a performance would represent a historic feat.
What about Guinea’s candidacy?
While our neighbor has officially committed to applying for the CAN 2027, which will follow that of 2025, which the CAF withdrew from us last September, on the side of Conakry nothing filters on the possibility of a new candidacy to the organization of an African Cup. Failing to apply in the medium term for a CAN senior, it would be appropriate for us to consider an application for an edition of the CHAN, a competition much less restrictive than the CAN senior. Indeed, the CHAN brings together only 16 teams, while the CAN requires 24 countries, and this competition can validly be used to test the functionality of the sports and related infrastructures, as well as our organizational capacity.
With this in mind, it is up to our authorities to reframe the initial project of the CAN 2025, to position themselves on an edition of the CHAN, an intermediate competition likely to prepare us for the organization of the CAN. In view of the formidable stakes of the organization of a CAN, this approach is to be followed in the perspective of putting all the assets on our side. Especially since CAF is becoming more and more demanding on compliance with the specifications of the event.
It should be emphasized that there is a great deficit in infrastructure of all kinds, the organization of an African Cup offers an opportunity to reduce this deficit which is recorded both in Conakry and in the interior of the country. Countries such as Mali, Morocco and Senegal have fully grasped the challenges of this competition with multiple and beneficial spin-offs, despite its constraints.
Cheick Tidiane
#Senegal #candidate #Guinea