Twitter gives thumbs up as SA lose 2019 Afcon to Egypt

There was an air of jubilation rather than displeasure on Twitter on Tuesday after Egypt beat South Africa hands down for the hosting rights of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) executive committee met in the capital Dakar in Senegal to choose the host nation for the tournament that will be staged from June 15 to July 13 and Egypt won the vote by a huge margin.

SA and Egypt were the only two nations to put in bids for the tournament after Cameroon were stripped of the hosting rights in late November for serious security concerns and delays with its preparations.

Following the announcement‚ the general feeling was that of satisfaction with many saying South Africa has more pressing issues to attend to than worry about hosting the Afcon finals.

Some poked fun at Bafana Bafana as the senior men’s national team will now have to avoid defeat in their last qualifying match away against Libya in March.

Bafana have failed to qualify for major tournaments in recent memory.

It remains to be seen how Egypt will organize a successful incident-free month-long event given that the tournament is only five months away and will for the first time be contested by 24 nations‚ which will put more strain on the host nation to provide extra beds and venues.

There have also been reported internal security issues in Egypt in the lead-up to the showpiece.

Egypt still restricts attendance numbers at domestic games for fear of violence in and around stadiums.

The north African nation hosted the continental showpiece on four previous occasions and last organized the event in 2006 when they won it.