The Namibian government has moved to distance itself from reports linking the country to a proposed joint bid to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations, saying no approval or commitments have been made towards staging the tournament.
The clarification comes after South Africa’s sports minister Gayton McKenzie announced earlier this year that a multi nation bid involving South Africa, Namibia and Botswana was being planned as part of efforts to bring major sporting events to the region and boost economic growth.
The idea gained further momentum in May when COSAFA president Tariq Babitseng told delegates at the organisation’s elective congress in Harare that a formal bid had already been submitted. “We submitted our bid on time to host the tournament in southern Africa,” he said.
But the government in Windhoek has now pushed back strongly against those claims. Gerard Vries, executive director of sport, said neither the state nor the Namibia Football Association had been authorised to enter or submit any bid for the 2028 tournament.
“The government of Namibia has not approved or authorised any bid for the 2028 Afcon tournament. No financial or operational commitments have been made towards hosting the tournament,” Vries said.
He added that no funding had been set aside for the project, stressing that no budgetary allocation exists because the government has not entered any formal bidding process linked to the competition.
The government’s stance appears to contrast with earlier regional ambitions. In 2022, Cabinet had given in principle approval for a joint Namibia Botswana bid for the 2027 edition of the tournament, an initiative that was later abandoned after Namibia withdrew, citing financial concerns and the scale of the required commitments.
The 2027 plan, known as the Bona bid, had been seen as a major opportunity for both countries to host Africa’s premier football competition for the first time, with expectations of shared infrastructure development and economic benefits.
Despite the renewed talk around a 2028 bid, Vries insisted there has been no new approval from government and no public funds committed to any hosting plans involving the continental showpiece.
