By Seraj Essul.
Tripoli, 23 November 013:
The 2017 Africa Nations Cup tournament is to go ahead in Libya after all, the Ministry . . .[restrict]of Youth and Sport said today.
There had been doubts that the competition would be staged here, and Algeria had suggested that it could host the games instead.
However today Mazen Dribika, a spokesman for the ministry said that the African Football Federation (CAF) had decided that the contest could go ahead in Libya, after it had been demonstrated that the country was capable of holding the games.
Dribika had explained that the CAF had required that Libya have at least four stadia. There were already arenas in Misrata and Benghazi and a stadium in Tripoli. Working with the Planning Ministry, he said that the Youth and Sports Ministry was to ask the GNC for an extra LS 1.2 billion. This would be used for the second stadium as well as work on infrastructure.
“We are reactivating previous contracts,” he explained, “not just for the remaining stadium but also for infrastructure and other small stadia”.
The Africa Cup had originally been planned for Libya in 2014. However because it clashed with the World Cup, it was brought forward to this year. Given the security situation in Libya, the tournament was hosted by South Africa. [/restrict]
