Egypt or South Africa will host 2019 Africa Cup of Nations: CAF

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will take place in either Egypt or South Africa, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed on Saturday.

They were the only two countries to announce their canditature publicly before the list closed Friday midnight.

Cameroon had originally beaten bids from Algeria and the Ivory Coast to win the right to host the tournament but, citing construction delays and question marks over security, were withdrawn as hosts by CAF last month.

A statement issued by CAF on Saturday said: “… concerning the process to agree on a new host country of the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 (AFCON), the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) today confirms that: formal applications have been received from the Egyptian and South African football associations to host the AFCON 2019.”

South Africa has hosted the tournament twice before, in 1996, when they won, and in 2013 when they stepped in to replace Libya. They are also the only African nation to host the World Cup, in 2010.

Egypt have hosted the event three times, notably in 1986 and, most recently, 2006, when they won the finals after penalty shoot-outs.

Morocco, Ghana and Congo-Brazzaville had all intimated they would like to host the tournament but none submitted formal bids.

The satatement added: “A CAF Extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting will take place in Dakar, Senegal on January 9, 2019 to agree on the new AFCON 2019 Host Nation.”The AFCON will be held frpm June 15 to July 13.