I knew Gabon would win AFCON hosting rights – George Afriyie

The Chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee, George Afriyie says he was convinced that Gabon had a better chance of winning the rights to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations ahead of Ghana and Algeria.

According to George Afriyie, his conviction was based on the fact that the 2017 tournament would not have been up for new hosts had Libya not pulled out due to political turmoil.

“I knew Gabon was going to win and everybody I spoke to ahead of the draw made the same remarks. I say this because, the 2017 rights had already be given, just like 2019 and 2021, but Libya pulled out of the 2017 event. So Ghana was chasing an event which had already been awarded and if such things happen, then the countries that hosted the event not long ago have better chances because their facilities would be in a better state.”

Wednesday, April 8, CAF announced that Gabon had won the rights to host the tournament beating off competition from Ghana and Algeria.

Gabon co-hosted the AFCON in 2012 with Equatorial Guinea.

CAF was forced to find a new host country for the 2017 tournament following Libya’s withdrawal as host due to the civil war that has brought footballing activities to a halt in that country.

All three countries made their presentations and enumerated why they think they should get the nod to host the biennial event. CAF taught Gabon made a more appealing presentation to merit the nod.

Ghana and Algeria were deemed favourites to host the event even though Gabon also had an outside chance of getting the nod.

Ghana last hosted the event in 2008 and was seen as a strong contender to win the bid.

Algeria also had a chance because North Africa has not hosted the competition in the last decade.

Algeria last hosted the AFCON tournament in 1990, which also happens to be the only time they won the competition.