President of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, Dr Patrice Motsepe has said that Nigeria should submit a bid to hos the FIFA World Cup.
The South Africa businessman Patrice Motsepe said this when responding to questions in an interview ahead of the curtain drawer of the African Cup of Nations AFCON in Ivory Coast.
Patrice Motsepe watched on from the VIP section, not for the first time since the start of the tournament, as the Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated his nation South Africa to book a place in Sunday’s final.
Despite the result in Bouake, Motsepe must have been really proud of the Bafana Bafana team, who made it to the last four only for the fourth time in the country’s history, and first time since 2000 in Nigeria.
Dr Patrice Motsepe believes Nigeria should bid to host World Cup
When asked of the next time an African country will host the global showpiece, the 62-year-old replied :
“Nigeria must put in a bid. The Nigerian president (Bola Tinubu) is coming to watch the final on Sunday… I will have a conversation with him about it.”
When Patrice Motsepe was yet CAF president, South Africa became the first-ever African country to host the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and it went on to become one of the most interesting editions of all-time.
Nigeria has only ever hosted two FIFA men’s tournament, the latest of which was the 2009 Under-17 World Cup tournament, where it came second having lost to Switzerland in the final.
The first was the 1999 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, while last senior competition hosted by the country was the 2000 edition of the African Cup of Nations AFCON, which they jointly hosted with Ghana.
The next edition of the FIFA World Cup will be played in North America, with the trio of Canada, Mexico and the United States jointly co-hosting what will be the 23rd edition of the global showpiece.
Hosts for upcoming FIFA World Cup tournaments
Hosts have also been lined up for the two editions that follow. Morocco will be joined by European duo of Portugal and Spain to host the FIFA World Cup in 2030 and four years later in 2034, the tournament will return to Asia, and Saudi Arabia will host it.
Patrice Motsepe fancies Nigeria to submit a bid in the near future and maybe the country, if it also agrees to the reasons of Motsepe will try to stage the FIFA World Cup in Africa, again.
