Cameroon loses 2019 AFCON hosting rights

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has stripped Cameroon of the right to host next year's African Cup of Nations after serious delays with its preparations and in the midst of a violent separatist rebellion near two of the planned venues.

CAF made the decision on Friday after a meeting with its executive committee.

CAF president Ahmad announced a new bidding process was to be opened till December 31.

Countries like South Africa and Morocco have shown interest in hosting the tournament which is expected to start in June 2019.

Morocco, which lost out to a joint United States-Canada-Mexico bid for the 2026 World Cup, has already been touted as a replacement host.

CAF said in September that there was a "significant delay" with the building of stadiums and related infrastructure but gave Cameroon a final chance by planning two more inspection visits in October.

One of those was to assess the security situation after an escalation in violence in the southwest and northwest of the country involving English-speaking separatists and government forces.