Nigeria, Benin Republic Bid To Co-Host 2025 Africa Cup Of Nations

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with its West African neighbour Benin Republic submitted a bid to co-host the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

A source close to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed this development.

Nigeria is yet to host the football showpiece since the 2000 edition which they co-hosted with Ghana, while Benin Republic has never staged a major tournament final.

BBC Sport Africa report that a top official of the NFF said that the federation completed all the necessary processes, and officially submitted a bid to the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) before the December 16 deadline.

“Having completed all the processes, we submitted our bid before the Confederation of African Football (Caf) deadline of 16 December,” the source said to BBC.

“The NFF will be sharing more information on the bid to stage the tournament in the coming weeks.”

Nigeria, who last hosted the finals of a major international tournament in 2009, which was the Under-17 World Cup, and Benin, would be prepared to convince the CAF officials when inspections begin from January 5 to 25 next year.

The bid to host the 2025 AFCON has reopened a few months ago after initial hosts Guinea was stripped of the hosting rights, with CAF citing the inability of the country to meet the deadline to get facilities ready for the tournament.

The West African nation is currently struggling with political instability following a military junta that ousted former civilian president Alpha Coundé in September 2021.

Meanwhile, Nigeria faces stiff competition from other countries including Zambia, Algeria, Morocco and South Africa, who have all expressed their interest in hosting the finals, with the winner expected to be named in February next year.