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Of the 54 member federations of the Confederation of African Football, 22 are without an approved stadium. As a result, their national A teams have to host their opponents outside the country.
From March 25 to 27, Morocco welcomed stadium inspectors to the Complexe Sportif Mohamed VI for workshops on sports infrastructure standards on the continent. The aim was above all to train these inspectors, who will be appointed by CAF to guide African clubs and federations in implementing the standards required to host events organized by CAF, according to the 2022 edition of the stadium regulations put in place by the body.
The meeting revealed that many countries still do not have at least one stadium approved in accordance with CAF specifications. According to Sport News Africa, 22 of the 54 member countries still do not have an approved stadium and are therefore unable to host matches. That’s half of CAF’s member federations. Nations such as Burkina Faso, Guinea and Kenya, which is due to co-host the AFCON 2027, are in this situation.
No home qualifiers
Others, such as Benin, have lost their homologation, and the Cheetahs will, for example, face Nigeria next June in Abidjan, as part of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. It should be noted that this figure had fallen to 15 nations, but has risen in recent months to 22, due to a lack of maintenance and compliance with the imposed standards. The 22 nations concerned are currently unable to see their national teams play at home in the qualifiers for the AFCON 2025 or the 2026 World Cup.
Some nations have undertaken work in order to have at least one approved stadium. This is notably the case for Uganda, which could be removed from the list in the coming weeks, as renovation work on the Mandela National Stadium is nearing completion, pending a visit from a delegation of CAF members to homologate it.
Countries without an approved stadium
Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
