The President of Kenya, William Samoei Ruto has thanked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for giving East Africa the opportunity to host the 2027 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Ruto was speaking before the start of the CAF Executive Committee meeting at the Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi on Monday morning.

Few months ago CAF announced that the PAMOJA bid of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya had won the bid to host the 2027 AFCON.

The Kenyan President made it clear that as East Africans they are happy that CAF has given them the opportunity to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2027. Ruto assured the CAF Exco that for starters the Kasarani Stadium and Nyayo Stadium will be ready by the end of this year for TotalEnergies African Nations Championships 2025,

“By allowing us Kenya to hosts AFCON, you have given us a brand new Stadium without knowing. This will help us create more jobs and many other opportunities. Dr Patrice and your team let me assure you that I will always be available when needed,” added President Ruto.

He also made it clear that there are things that we Africans can do better as Africans inorder to elevate each other.

Dr. Patrice Moptsepe on behalf of CAF thanked the President of Kenya for hosting them in Nairobi. On Sunday the CAF President also had the opportunity to inspect Kasarani, Nyayo and Talanta Stadiums to check on the construction progress ahead of CHAN 2025 and AFCON 2027 finals that East Africa will host.

Ethiopia’s top female player Geinore Loza Abera has said she is happy to finally sign for a team in the First Division United States Professional League.

DC Power FC who will make their inaugural 2024/2025 USL Super League season on September 13^th announced Loza Abera’s signing last week.

“I am very happy to finally sign a contract with DC Power FC and I will work hard to help the team win matches and Cups,” says Loza Abera who has captained Ethiopia’s women’s teams at all levels.

The top striker last year moved from Commercial Bank of Ethiopia to join USL Women’s League Virginia Marauders FC.

Frédéric Brillant, the DC Power FC head coach says they are very happy to add Loza Abera to their team. “We are pleased to add Loza to our ranks for the upcoming season. Along with being an outlet up top, Loza finds the back of the net on a consistent basis. She will be a welcomed addition to our team and will be an asset in the final third,” added the coach.

The Club President Jordan Stuart also praised Loza as an extremely talented player who adds creativity and a nose for goal on the attacking end of the field. “She has shown great leadership captaining her country and being at the forefront of African football on the world stage,” he added.

The 26-year old Loza was top scorer in 2021 and 2022 during the Zonal CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers in Nairobi and Tanzania respectively.

Uganda’s leading female referee Shamira Nabadda has been selected to officiate at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The tournament will take place in the Dominican Republic from 16 October to 3 November 2024.

Fresh from officiating at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in France, Nabadda is the only referee from the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Zone selected for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The second African referee selected is Algeria’s Mehat Ghada, and the assistants include; Hamdi Soukaina (Morocco), Abdelfattah Yara (Egypt), Kone Fanta (Mali) and Zambia’s Nancy Kasitu. In the communication sent on Friday FIFA has selected 12 referees, 24 assistants and two support referees.

Nabadda who has also officiated at the CAF African Women’s Championship is currently in Ethiopia ahead of the start of the CAF Women’s Champions League – CECAFA qualifiers which run August 17-31^st.

Africa will be represented by Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The other nations that qualified include hosts Dominican Republic, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mexico, USA, Brazil, England, Poland, Spain, Colombia, New Zealand and Ecuador.

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia has announced that the country is interested in bidding to host the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2029.

While speaking to the media in Addis Ababa, the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said they have what it takes to return the AFCON to Ethiopia. He emphasized that they only need to add a few more stadiums to be able to host the AFCON.

He said this at the climax of the Shenen Africa Fashion Festival Week which ended in Addis Ababa on Sunday. Former Nigerian international players Nwankwo Kanu and Daniel Amokachi, together with actors, social media influencers, designers, models, technology experts, business people and diplomats among others also attended the Festival.

In April this year the Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Sports, Kejela Merdasa also made it public about their ambitious plans to prepare the country to be able to bid and host either the AFCON 2029 or AFCON 2031. for this significant event, emphasizing the need for at least six standard stadiums to ensure its success.

Merdasa says although Ethiopia currently lacks stadiums that meet CAF’s requirements, forcing the national team to play its matches abroad, they are working on building more stadiums and renovating others that are already available.

Ethiopia has hosted the AFCON before in 1962, 1968 and 1976. Sudan hosted the first edition in 1957 and again in 1970.

Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania won the bid to host the AFCON 2027 which will mark the return of Africa’s biggest Football showpiece to the CECAFA Zone after so many years.