The South African Football Association’s (Safa’s) plans to bid for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) could be complicated by rugby’s bid for the sport’s World Cup in the same year‚ Sport and Recreation Minister Thembelani Nxesi says. Addressing Safa’s national executive committee (NEC)‚ Nxesi said Safa might be advised to find sponsors and financial backers should it want to bid for the 2023 Afcon‚ as SA Rugby has done for its bid. "I am informed that Safa wants to consider hosting the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. But I’m not sure of the timing‚ because there’s big rugby [in the same year]‚" Nxesi said. "If Saru [South African Rugby Union] wins its bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup‚ it will be difficult to host two big events in one year. "Also‚ I need to make the point that to get the Cabinet’s support for the 2023 rugby bid, it has to be packaged as an economic bid‚ so that, basically, it would not require any financial contribution from the fiscus. And even then, it was a very...
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