Zambia will consider bidding for the 2017 Afcon-Kambwili MINISTER of Youth and Sport Chishimba Kambwili says Zambia will consider bidding for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after the country’s failure to secure the 2019 edition. And acting President Edgar Lungu said the country will follow the Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s decision to award Cameroon the right to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. “We just have to live and let live,” said Lungu in an interview in Lusaka yesterday. Kambwili said in an interview on Saturday that Zambia will give it a try for the 2017 edition. Asked if Government will consider a joint bid with Zimbabwe for the 2017 edition, Kambwili said Zambia will go it alone. “We have the infrastructure and everything. There is no reason we should go into a joint bid with Zimbabwe,” he said. Kambwili said Government has embarked on vigorous construction of sports facilities and the country can manage to stage the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The minister was disappointed that CAF opted to give the 2019 edition to Cameroon instead of Zambia which he claimed had better facilities than the West African country. “Our bid was one of the best. I can’t understand why we lost. They need to be fair when making these decisions,” he said. He is however hopeful that Zambia will be given the rights to host the 2017 edition. Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, among others, are targeting to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after Libya withdrew due to turmoil in the North African country. CAF has set September 30 as the deadline for receiving nomination for the 2017 edition. And Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Kalusha Bwalya says the country’s football development will not be deterred despite losing the bid to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Kalusha described the loss as disappointing but that Zambia has picked lessons from the loss. “We lost the bid but that won’t deter us from other things we are doing. It is disappointing but there are lessons learnt from this whole process. We had the intention of getting 2019 but it was awarded to Cameroon. As Zambia we were up against the big boys and the results are now seen that having hosted an AfCON before always plays a major role,” he said. He said Zambia will be back as major contenders the next time the country bids to host the competition. On the 2017 edition whose bids have been opened following the withdrawal of initial hosts Libya, Kalusha said time is against Zambia. “To be honest we are time-barred and that is something we cannot do. Only countries that have ever hosted an AfCON before are the ones asked to do it,” he said. And Zambia Sports Fans Association patron Peter Makembo has challenged CAF to inform Zambia where the country went wrong in its bidding. LusakaTimes
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 10:05:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015