SOUTH Africa will host the 29th instalment of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2013 after shrugging off bids from Algeria and Nigeria, word from Cairo reached Sowetan last night.
The decision was taken at the Confederation of African Football's executive committee meeting at the Egyptian capital last night.
South Africa, who staged and won the continent's prime football competition in 1996, replaced Libya - who were forced to rescind the rights to host the spectacle due to political upheavals in the north African country.
The 2010 Fifa World Cup hosts, who failed to qualify for Afcon in Angola last year, were initially due to host the 2017 showpiece, which will now be staged by Libya.
Safa vice-president Danny Jordaan, who is in Cairo for the CAF gathering, would not immediately confirm the good news when contacted by Sowetan last night.
But the veteran football administrator sounded excited when asked if South Africa had been given the rights to stage the biennial continental football festival in 2013.
"It looks very good for us to host the tournament in 2013," Jordaan said, adding "phone me a little later and I might tell you the good news. I'm waiting for a confirmation but I can reiterate that it looks pretty good for us."
Jordaan, credited for contributing in bringing the Fifa World Cup to Africa for the first time last year, said it would be very nice for the country to host the 2013 Afcon and the African Nations Championship in 2014 after the successful hosting of the quadrennial global football fiesta in 2010.
The 2014 event - the tournament meant for locally based players - was also moved from Libya for the same reason. The winners of Afcon will qualify for the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup in Brazil as the representative of CAF.
SA to host 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals
SOUTH Africa will host the 29th instalment of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2013 after shrugging off bids from Algeria and Nigeria, word from Cairo reached Sowetan last night.
The decision was taken at the Confederation of African Football's executive committee meeting at the Egyptian capital last night.
South Africa, who staged and won the continent's prime football competition in 1996, replaced Libya - who were forced to rescind the rights to host the spectacle due to political upheavals in the north African country.
The 2010 Fifa World Cup hosts, who failed to qualify for Afcon in Angola last year, were initially due to host the 2017 showpiece, which will now be staged by Libya.
Safa vice-president Danny Jordaan, who is in Cairo for the CAF gathering, would not immediately confirm the good news when contacted by Sowetan last night.
But the veteran football administrator sounded excited when asked if South Africa had been given the rights to stage the biennial continental football festival in 2013.
"It looks very good for us to host the tournament in 2013," Jordaan said, adding "phone me a little later and I might tell you the good news. I'm waiting for a confirmation but I can reiterate that it looks pretty good for us."
Jordaan, credited for contributing in bringing the Fifa World Cup to Africa for the first time last year, said it would be very nice for the country to host the 2013 Afcon and the African Nations Championship in 2014 after the successful hosting of the quadrennial global football fiesta in 2010.
The 2014 event - the tournament meant for locally based players - was also moved from Libya for the same reason. The winners of Afcon will qualify for the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup in Brazil as the representative of CAF.
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