The general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Hicham El Amrani, has denied reports that Libya could again be stripped of its right to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017.
Libya was originally scheduled to host this year’s Cup, but amid security concerns the CAF decided to switch the event to South Africa; with South Africa due to host the 2017 tournament, an agreement was reached to swap the games.
El Amrani told BBC Sport:
“We have not received any communication from Algeria about replacing Libya and CAF’s position has not changed since Libya was confirmed as hosts for the 2017 tournament. It does not mean that CAF is not sensitive to what is happening in Libya nor that CAF is not following the latest developments in Libya.
"The executive committee will continually assess to make sure the tournament is organised in the best possible way with conditions that allow such an international tournament to take place. As things stand today, the tournament will be held in Libya in 2017.”
Libya plans to invest 400 million dinars (US$314 million) this year developing 11 stadiums for the 2017 event. Among the developments are a new 60,000-seat stadium in the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura, and a second 23,000-seat stadium in Misrata.
(Source: Goal.com)
