By David Gold
April 20 – The announcement of the host cities for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, which was expected today, has been delayed for a second time, the South African Football Association (SAFA) have confirmed.
A statement on the SAFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF) websites read: “The announcement…has been deferred to Thursday, 03 May 2012 by Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa.”
Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Cape Town, Polokwane, Rustenburg and Nelspruit are the cities who have put themselves forward to host matches during the 2013 tournament.
They all staged games during the South Africa World Cup in 2010, along with Pretoria, which is the only city not to have bid for the 2013 African Nations Cup, and presented their bids on March 26.
The postponement of the announcement was made after the South African Cabinet met on Wednesday (April 18) and decided to form an Inter Ministerial Committee to engage with the Local Organising Committee on the required Government guarantees for the tournament.
That came after the Organising Committee had evaluated and assessed the host cities’ respective bids and sent them to the Government to consider.
The previous delay was caused by the need for some of the bidding cities to have more time to agree to sign Host City Agreements.
It is expected that five of those cities will be chosen when the Organising Committee makes its formal announcement next month, having already evaluated and assessed the bids.
South Africa had originally hoped to select more to make full use of the stadiums built for the 2010 World Cup, but CAF restrictions prevent them from doing so.
CAF have indicated though that South Africa would get a chance to use stadiums in those cities that are not selected to host games during the African Nations Cup for the following year’s African Nations Championships.
South Africa was awarded the right to host the 2013 African Nations Cup after Libya had to relinquish hosting rights due to the unstable situation in the North African country.
Libya will now host the competition in 2017, when South Africa had originally been due to stage it.
The Organising Committee said: “We support this process as it is a clear indication and commitment of our Government to ensure the successful hosting of African Nations Cup in 2013.
“It has communicated the same to CAF, which in turn agreed to such a proposal.”
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734799122labto1734799122ofdlr1734799122owedi1734799122sni@d1734799122log.d1734799122ivad1734799122
Related stories
April 2012: African Nations Cup 2013 draw confirmed for October
April 2012: Exclusive – South African Sports Minister says claims of Africa Cup chaos are unfounded
March 2012: Eight South African cities bid for 2013 African Nations Cup matches
March 2012: Full stadiums is top priority, says 2013 African Nations Cup boss
January 2012: SAFA President heads 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Organising Committee