South Africa to host 2013 Nations Cup
Reuters - Thursday 25 August 2011, 11:38
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa is to take
over from Libya as hosts of the 2013 African Nations Cup finals
in a swap agreement that will see Libya host the 2017 edition,
the South African Football Association (SAFA) said on Thursday.
The agreement must still to be ratified by the Confederation
of African Football, who will meet in Cairo next month.
"In terms of the agreement, Libya will host the 2017 finals
which had been awarded to South Africa, while SAFA will take
over the hosting of the 2013 tournament," SAFA said in a
statement.
South Africa this year filled in at short notice for Libya,
currently embroiled in civil conflict, by hosting the African
Youth Championship. They had just six weeks to put together the
eight-team tournament.
South Africa had been expected to take over from Libya for
2013 given a comprehensive infrastructure from the World Cup
last year made them a logical choice.
Algeria had also expressed an interest as stand-by hosts and
Nigeria had been previously delegated as a reserve hosts.
The next Nations Cup finals are to be co-hosted by
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in January and February after which
the tournament switches to every odd year.
Morocco are the hosts in 2015.