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ETHIOPIA MAY BE STRIPPED OF 2020 AFRICAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP HOSTING RIGHTS

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A definite pattern is evolving in Africa and it seems the norm. Designated host nations for continental tournaments are changed. No designated host has staged the Africa Cup of Nations since 2012. The pattern has moved even to the next two editions of 2021 and 2023.

Some months ago, Kenya was stripped of the hosting rights of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) which later moved to Morocco.

The 2020 edition slated for Ethiopia is set to suffer the same fate. On the sidelines of the preparations for the draw ceremony of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo, the Ethiopia Football Federation (EFF) has admitted it doubts it will be ready to host the 2020 Africa Nations Championship. According to BBC reports, theEFF president Esayas Jira said preparations were behind schedule.

“The stadiums are not ready and next year being a (parliamentary) election year also makes it tricky for us to host this event,” Jira told BBC Sport.

“I’m worried as President of the EFF because although we are still willing to host, I doubt we can be ready.”

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Jira was voted into office last June after CAF had awarded the hosting rights to Ethiopia for the tournament that is only open to locally-based players.

He added that a CAF inspection team visited Ethiopia over a month ago but are yet to release their findings.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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