As Botswana submits Afcon 2027 bid book
Botswana Football Association ( BFA) President, Maclean Letshwiti has given the Botswana 2027 Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON) bid book thumbs up after witnessing that Botswana can actually meet Confederation of African Football ( CAF) requirements to host the AFCON tournament.
Botswana 2027 Africa Cup of Nations bid committee has successfully submitted the country’s bid book document to the ( CAF) on the 23rd of May 2023. The verdict of who will host the AFCON 2027 finals is expected to be announced later this year in September.
The bid book was produced by a South African consultant, Ruben Reddy Architects for a reported 61 million pula. The company has also produced documents for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, and the Russia 2018 World Cup, they are well known of producing winning documents.
In an interview with this publication this week, Letshwiti could not hide is contentment about the bid book, he said Botswana has produced a competitive document and they are happy with how it came out as the technical advisers.
“I have gone through my copy of the bid book, and I am impressed seeing that Botswana is capable of meeting CAF requirements. Botswana has put a very compelling bid, technically it is a good one and we thank the president of the country for having faith in football that we can host the most magnificent tournament ever in the African continent,” Letshwiti stated. The minimum requirement for hosting the tournament is that the host should have six stadiums to cater for all the 24 teams that will be part of the tournament and one of two stadiums should have two 40,000 capacity stadiums two 20,000- seater stadiums and two with a capacity of 15,000.
Botswana’s top facility at the moment is the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium, which has a capacity of 27,000. The facility is relatively new and might not cost government a fortune to upgrade in time for the tournament as compared to other stadiums. On April 2023, the Chief Executive Officer of Botswana national Sports Council ( BNSC), Tuelo Serufho said that the National Stadium and Lobatse Sports Complex failed the CAF test, therefore it will be costly to upgrade them.