Ethiopia submits AFCON 2028 bid, 52 years after last hosting

Ethiopia has submitted a bid to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations, 52 years after staging the tournament for the last time. The Ethiopian Football Federation confirmed the country’s interest on Monday and said it was ready to welcome the continental competition.

Ethiopia’s only previous AFCON hosting assignment came in 1976. A successful bid would therefore return the tournament to the country for the first time since that edition, giving Ethiopia an opportunity to stage Africa’s leading national-team event again after more than five decades.

The proposed host country has a population of about 130 million, making it Africa’s second most populous nation. Addis Ababa, the capital, is home to the headquarters of the African Union and stands at an altitude of 2,300 metres, the highest elevation of any African capital.

The bid will face scrutiny over security and facilities. Unrest continues in parts of Ethiopia, while the country’s ability to provide the infrastructure required for a tournament of this scale is also an issue under consideration.

The 2027 AFCON is already scheduled to be shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Ethiopia’s proposal would add another East African hosting possibility to the regional calendar, although the 2028 bid concerns a separate edition of the competition.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have also shown interest in jointly hosting the 2032 tournament. Ethiopia’s submission places its own 2028 proposal within a wider contest among African countries seeking to stage future AFCON editions.