The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have asked South Africa to step in as the hosts of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
This comes after the initial hosts Cameroon were stripped of the rights to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on grounds of insecurity during the body’s Executive Committee Extraordinary meeting in Accra.
South Africa hosted the competition back in 2013 and can be able to host it again, but it’s not up to the South Africa football association alone to make the commitment.
The South Africa Football Association is open to hosting the continental tournament but will have to meet the Government first before making a final decision.
The Bafana Bafana official twitter account tweeted; “SAFA President has told the SAFA AGM in Sandton on Sunday, 2 December that CAF has asked the Association to seriously consider hosting AFCON 2019. SAFA will however, meet the Government first before making a decision.”
With the stadiums built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa is one of the countries with the facilities to host any continental competition.
CAF wants to have a new host for the competition by December 31.
Fourteen countries have already confirmed their places at the tournament and they are; Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Madagascar, Morocco, Mali, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Mauritania, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
The other ten places will be decided during the final qualifiers in March 2019.
The 2019 AFCON tournament will be the first to host 24 teams. The competition will be held in June and July moving from January and February.