The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied a rumoured joint bid with Benin Republic to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. NFF First Vice President, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, told The Guardian he is not aware of such a bid by Nigeria, adding, “In fact, I am just hearing this information for the first time.
“I don’t think such an arrangement is in progress. I don’t know anything about the AFCON bid.”
According to the reports, Nigeria and Benin submitted a combined bid to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2025, joining Algeria, Morocco, and Zambia in expressing interest. “Having completed all the processes, we submitted our bid before the Confederation of African Football (CAF) deadline of 16 December,” a top Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official reportedly told the media.
Nigeria, which hosted the Under-20 World Cup in 1999, last hosted a significant tournament in 2009, when it hosted the Under-17 World Cup. If the report were to come true later, both Nigeria and Benin would have a lot of work to do to persuade the CAF inspection teams, who are scheduled to tour bidding countries from January 5 to 25, 2023 of their seriousness in replacing Guinea.
Guinea was removed from its hosting rights earlier this year due to infrastructure and facility concerns, which Nigeria shares.
Apart from Uyo, which hosted the CAF Confederation Cup final last season, and the rebuilt Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria has long struggled to locate a suitable stadium to host the Super Eagles. The Lagos National Stadium, which hosted the year 2000 final, is being refurbished. The Abuja stadium was stormed, dugouts were toppled, and visiting fans, players, and officials were assaulted with missiles after Nigeria lost their 2022 World Cup qualification play-off against fierce rivals Ghana.
Benin has never hosted a major continental final, and its most prominent stadium is the Stade de l’Amitié, which can hold 20,000 people, whereas the Stade Charles de Gaulle in the city of Porto-Novo can only hold 13,000 people.