MOTSEPE SET TO QUIZ GUINEA OVER AFRICAN CUP

CONFEDERATION of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe was in Guinea yesterday as questions persist about the country’s ability to host the African Cup of Nations in 2025.

Motsepe was to meet the leader of the country’s junta, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, before leaving in the evening, according to a programme for the visit communicated by the Guinean federation.

Motsepe’s visit follows one in early September by a CAF mission to check on the progress of the project. His trip had given rise to speculation that CAF will remove Guinea as host or postpone the competition to 2026 or 2027.

Colonel Doumbouya has pledged that the competition will take place in Guinea in 2025, said Sports Minister Lansana Bea Diallo.

Motsepe is due to hold a press conference in Algiers today after a meeting of CAF’S executive committee.

Organising the tournament looks like a challenge for Guinea, which lacks sports and transport infrastructure.

This would be the 35th edition of the competition. Guinea has never been the host.

In March, Colonel Doumbouya replaced the old organising committee, one of whose members had publicly expressed doubts about the feasibility of the project.

Colonel Doumbouya issued a decree declaring the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations “of national interest and priority”.