THE South African Football Association (Safa) have not completely ruled out the possibility of replacing Cameroon as hosts of the 2019 Afcon tournament.
On Friday, Cameroon were stripped of their rights to host Africa’s biggest football event due to their unreadiness to organise the spectacle. Morocco and South Africa have been touted as the two possible replacements.
Safa say that their current financial situation is a major stumbling block.
“We are going through a difficult situation and we cannot afford such a luxury. We can only host if Caf will bankroll the whole tournament or if the SA government can finance the competition,” said Safa spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi.
“Caf informed us that they will be opening a new bidding process. We are not sure as to what it will entail and we can’t committ ourselves at this stage,” Chimhavi added.
It has emerged that Safa are more keen in putting serious bids for the Fifa Women’s World and the Fifa Club World Cup.
“We have made our intentions very clear regarding our wish to host the Fifa Women’s World and the Fifa Club World Cup. We are very serious about these two events.”
Meanwhile, it has been a great week for South African football. Bafana Bafana superstar Percy Tau, the Banyana team of coach Desiree Ellis, Janine van Wyk and Thembi Kgatlana, have been nominated for the annual Caf Awards.
Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper and African Player of the Year (Based in Africa), Denis Onyango, also made the shortlist.
Tau is competing with his former club teammate and Ugandan Onyango, for the Player of the Year (Based in Africa) award.
Ellis has been nominated for African Coach of the Year while Van Wyk and Kgatlana have been nominated for the African Player Women’s Player of the Year.
Banyana are expected to make a cleansweep at the awards that will be held in Senegal in January.
