“We have submitted our bid documents,” South African Football
Association spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said in reply to emailed
questions from AFP.
“(It) is now up to CAF to decide (who hosts the 2019 Cup of Nations).”
Earlier Thursday, Egypt said it was willing to stage the biennial
African football showpiece after Morocco surprisingly announced it would
not bid.
Morocco had been strong a media favourite to host the tournament for the first time since 1988.
Last week, Cameroon was stripped of the right to stage the tournament
with African football body CAF citing behind-schedule preparations and
security concerns.
The deadline for bids is 2200GMT Friday with a decision on who replaces Cameroon to be made in Senegal on January 9.
South Africa last week “expressed an interest” in staging the Cup of
Nations for the second time in six years, but stopped short of formally
applying to be hosts.
If South Africa is chosen, it will be third time it has replaced
another country as hosts of a tournament first staged in Sudan 61 years
ago.
It took over from Kenya in 1996, going on to win the tournament just
four years after returning to international football from
apartheid-induced isolation.
Post-Moamer Kadhafi-era violence prevented Libya hosting the 2013
edition and South Africa stepped in three years after becoming the first
African country to stage the World Cup.
Record seven-time champions Egypt were hosts in 1959, 1974, 1986 and 2006 and won three of those four tournaments.
The 2019 Cup of Nations will be the first to feature 24 teams, up
from 16 in Gabon last year when Cameroon were surprise winners.
There will also be a change of dates with the tournament moving from
January/February to June/July to avoid club-versus-country clashes.
Cameroon won in 2017 despite a number of stars, including Liverpool
defender Joel Matip, opting to stay with their clubs in the middle of
the season.
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