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Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga is confident that Zambia will be successful in its bid to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Kamanga ,whose administration has failed to send a team to the AFCON for three consecutive times, said Zambia will take a leaf from Qatar which put up a splendid organisational masterclass.
“In our bid to host the 2025 AFCON, we will be looking to learn from their example. Our bid was successfully filed with the Confederation
of African Football (CAF ) on December 15, 2022, and we will be in the queue with a few other countries,” he said.
Kamanga was confident that Zambia’s bid would be given a chance given that Southern Africa has not hosted any AFCON since the 2013 edition staged by South Africa.
“ We also have taken a closer look at the requirements which puts a minimum of six stadia broken down as two with a capacity of at least 40, 000 and another four that will have a capacity of at least 20,000,” he said.
Kamanga said already, the country has two CAF certified venues in the National Heroes and Levy Mwanawasa while four other existing stadia will be upgraded to at least 15 and 20, 000 capacity.
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The Zambian Government had agreed to build from scratch in Livingstone a 20,000 capacity stadium which was already supported by top class accommodation as well as an international airport.
He said part of the catalyst for this bid was the guaranteed government support that had already come through with the signing of all the guarantees required by CAF.
The Zambia Government has directed all sports associations to take advantage of any international events that are open to hosting as part of its wider international diplomacy agenda.
“We will draw heavily on the 2017 Under-20 Afcon , which was one of the well-organized tournaments.
Given the strides that our teams are making, we have no doubt that with the strides our various national teams are making, 2025 could prove a moment of triumph on home soil,” Kamanga said.
CAF is expected to conduct inspections in January, 2023 while the successful bidder will be announced in February in the same year.
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