Co-hosting "an insult to Nigeria", says official

LAGOS, March 19 (Reuters) - A Nigerian government official said a ruling that Nigerian and Ghana should co-host next year's African Nations' Cup finals was "an insult" to his country. The unnamed official, quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said: "Nigeria will prefer that Ghana should host the tournament because the co-hosting status is an insult to Nigeria."

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Monday that Ghana and Nigeria would co-host the 16-nation biennial event.

It said its decision was based on the fact that both Ghana and Nigeria last hosted the competition almost 20 years ago. CAF had stripped Zimbabwe of the right to host the tournament last month, saying its facilities did not meet the required standard. It rejected Zimbabwe's appeal. According to NAN, the government official said Nigeria's facilities for the World Youth Cup it is hosting from April 3-24 at eight venues should give it "an edge over Ghana or any other country". NAN quoted the official as saying the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) had been told to "take necessary action". NFA officials were not available for comment on Friday.