Ethiopia has officially submitted its bid to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations, the edition after next of the tournament.
The Ethiopian Football Federation wrote on the social media platform "X" (formerly Twitter): "Ethiopia has officially submitted its bid to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations."
The federation added that this bid "meets all requirements and reaffirms that the country is fully ready to host the biggest football event in Africa," confirming that the bid has the support of the country's government.
It is worth noting that Ethiopia is seeking with this move to earn the honor of organizing the competition for the first time in over half a century, specifically since 1976.
The last appearance of the Ethiopian national team in the Africa Cup of Nations was in the 2021 edition in Cameroon, when they were eliminated in the group stage.
It should be noted that Ethiopia currently does not have any CAF-accredited stadiums, and recently its national team played matches at the stadium in the city of Diredawa, far from the capital Addis Ababa, after obtaining temporary accreditation to play the first stage of the African qualifiers.
Recent reports stated that the stadium in the city of Bahir Dar received Category 3 accreditation to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
CAF acknowledged the improvements made to the stadium, while noting that some requirements still need to be addressed.
The next edition is expected to be held in 2027, jointly organized by three East African countries: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
The competition will move to a new format starting in 2028, being held every four years instead of every two years, in order to align its schedule with other FIFA competitions.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have expressed their desire to submit a joint bid to host the tournament in 2032, according to their football federations.
