Bitter political rivals Morocco and South Africa are heading for a showdown over the hosting of Caf’s 2024 Women’s Afcon, which is set to take place in June next year. The tournament was postponed due to the Olympic Games in Paris.
Sunday World understands that South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan is due to meet Caf president Patrice Motsepe this weekend to discuss the matter after SA submitted their intention to host the tournament. Motsepe is said to have been travelling back from the US where he attended a sports conference.
Earlier in the week, Jordaan travelled to Nairobi, Kenya for the Caf executive committee meeting, which was chaired by Motsepe.
Banyana Banyana are the reigning champions and will be defending the crown they won in Rabat after they defeated Morocco in front of their own supporters in the last edition in 2022, winning the coveted continental trophy for the first time in history.
Safa was hoping that a decision on the host of next year’s Wafcon was going to be on the agenda in Kenya, since they have shown their keenness to organise the tournament.
Safa says that hosting the tournament would afford Wafcon champions Banyana an opportunity to defend their crown on home soil.
SA and Morocco have been at loggerheads for decades now, since the bidding process for the 2006 Fifa World Cup started, where Germany won under controversial circumstances.
The two countries have never stopped stepping on each other’s toes over playing host to major tournaments.
After Banyana’s triumph in 2022, Caf retained Morocco as the next hosts, thus becoming the first country to host back-to-back Wafcon editions – something that did not sit well with many African countries, especially South Africa.
“In this last meeting in Nairobi, Caf said that Morocco are not sure anymore and they want to change their minds,” Jordaan told Sunday World this week.
“Caf executive makes the decision – this Wafcon was awarded to Morocco and they must agree to give it to other countries. They are also hosting the Men’s Afcon in December next year and they were also given the Fifa 2030 World Cup where they will co-host with Portugal and Spain. That’s why I want Caf to find out what is going on. They also want to make a bid for the 2031 Fifa Women’s World Cup, we will wait for that because we also want to host that tournament.”
All the 12 teams that qualified have been confirmed. Morocco is still aspiring to clinch its maiden title. Reigning champions South Africa and nine-time champions Nigeria will headline the show.
The other countries are Algeria, Botswana, DR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia.
The final match of the 2022 Wafcon between Morocco and South Africa set a new record for attendance, with 50,000 fans in attendance.
Safa CEO Lydia Monyepao was quoted in the media saying that the postponement of the Wafcon will give Banyana coach Desiree Ellis time to start building a new team.
Caf communication officer Luxolo September noted that the bid to host the 2024 Wafcon was advertised twice without any offers. “Morocco had therefore emerged as the only bidders. Due to the Olympics and the congested calendar, the Wafcon 2024 was moved by a year.”
Off the pitch, SA and Morocco are at loggerheads over the recognition of the Sahrawi Republic, which is fighting for independence from Morocco.
South Africa supports efforts to recognise Sahrawi as an independent republic.
