The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President, Patrice Motsepe, has backed Nigeria to host a FIFA World Cup tournament, urging President Tinubu to put in a bid for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finalists.
Motsepe met with CAF Member Associations’ Presidents ahead of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations finale in Côte d’Ivoire 2023. The CAF President made the call when a Nigerian journalist asked ‘when can Africa host the World Cup again?’
“I know the Nigerian President is coming (to watch the final on Sunday). I’ll have a conversation with him about it,” Motsepe said. “Nigeria must put in a bid.”
The last time an African nation hosted the World Cup was in South Africa from 11 June 11th – 11th July, 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was exclusively open to African nations, with South Africa ultimately being selected over Egypt and Morocco by FIFA in 2004.
Motsepe also said he was proud of Nigeria, adding that “the Best of Nigeria is back.”
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe
says “Nigeria is a country filled with endless possibilities. Lagos, in particular, is a city that offers unique experiences that are yet to be discovered. If you haven’t visited Lagos, you are missing out on an opportunity to explore the beauty… pic.twitter.com/EV7w6HKWxJ— Voice of Nigeria (@voiceofnigeria) February 10, 2024
Nigeria has also previously hosted an international football event, the thirteenth edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held from 24 October to 15 November 2009. Morocco, in partnership with Portugal and Spain, is set to host the 2030 World Cup, marking the first time the tournament will be jointly hosted by two continents.
The CAF president equally revealed that the 2023 AFCON, tagged Côte d’Ivoire. 2023, had over N2 billion viewers worldwide, adding that Africans should be proud for this great feat.
“We have had close to two billion people watching AFCON globally. We should be proud as Africans and the next one will be even better,” Motsepe said.
“The success of Africa depends upon Africa working together, trading together and in football, countries competing and playing together.”
“Our commitment as CAF is to work together with all our partners and to contribute to uniting all our people in Africa and worldwide; people from different racial, ethnic & religious backgrounds,” he added.
The organisation of the tournament has so far been top notch, with six beautiful stadia across five cities hosting the continental showpiece.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will lock horns with hosts Cote d’Ivoire in a thrilling finalw on Sunday at the 60, 000 capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpé at Abidjan.
While the third-place match on Saturday between South Africa and DR Congo is slated for the iconic Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, also in Abidjan.
