By Libya Herald staff.
24 August 2014:
Libya has stepped down as host of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2017. In . . .[restrict]a meeting with CAF President Issa Hayatou at Confederation of African Football (CAF) Headquarters in Cairo on Friday, a Libyan delegation led by the country’s Minister of Youth and Sports and including the president of the Libyan Football Federation said that because of the unstable security situation in the country, Libya was no longer an ideal host for the event.
Libya had been scheduled to host the 2013 Nations Cup but in the aftermath of the revolution, the competition was transferred to South Africa, who had been down to stage the 2017 event.
In March of this year, an article published by Al-Wasat claimed that the CAF had doubts about Libya’s ability to persuade famous and valuable African players attached to European clubs to attend the competition. Nevertheless, Libya did not withdraw as host until yesterday.
Once the news of Libya’s stepping down became official, an appeal was sent to all 54 member associations reopening bids to host the 2017 AFCON. Candidate countries have just over a month to turn in applications.
Because of the limited time left for organizing the 2017 tournament, the CAF has said it will only choose a host country whose transportation, hotels facilities, training sites and stadiums already exist. Libya had been due to build five brand new stadia in Tripoli, Benghazi,Misrata, Al-Baida and Zawiya. However, a Turkish contractor had only begun foundation work on the new arena in the capital when the project was delayed because it was thought it might be better located elsewhere.
The Executive Committee of the CAF has said that it will choose the new host country early next year.
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