President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has met with Confederation of African Football (CAF) Secretary General Samson Adamu and the National AFCON Task Force at State House Entebbe, to review preparations for co-hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The meeting included the CAF delegation, the National AFCON Task Force led by the Prime Minister Rt Hon Robinah Nabbanja, Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang and Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) President Hon Moses Magogo.
During the meeting, President Museveni directed relevant government institutions to accelerate construction and upgrade works on stadiums, training grounds, roads, airport facilities and accommodation in upcountry host cities.
The President made it categorically clear that he is committed to engaging his counterparts in Kenya and Tanzania regarding a proposed single East African visa arrangement to facilitate seamless movement for fans and officials during the Pamoja tournament.
The CAF Secretary General Samson Adamu and his technical team who included tje CAF Country Infrastructure Manager Ms Bianca Wambui inspected local facilities and commended the overall progress made on infrastructure development in Uganda so far.
Uganda is preparing to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament alongside Kenya and Tanzania and the CAF delegation briefed the President on its observations following inspections of stadiums, training facilities and other infrastructure required for the tournament.
Ms Wambui commended the progress made so far, particularly in the development of stadiums and training grounds, saying that total efforts have been put in, especially in terms of improving the stadiums and training grounds.
President Museveni assured the CAF officials that the Government would address the outstanding challenges and ensure Uganda is adequately prepared to co-host the tournament and cited Uganda’s experience hosting the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in 2024, which brought together representatives from about 150 countries.
“We hosted NAM here, which comprised 150 countries, and we were able to deal with them. The Kampala area has the facilities, but now the challenge is upcountry, which we are now going to concentrate on,” President Museveni assured the delegation.
He further told the CAF delegation that the Government would take the necessary measures to address the remaining requirements.
The CAF Secretary General Adamu also appealed to President Museveni to fast-track the implementation of a single visa arrangement for Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to facilitate the movement of football fans, teams and other tournament delegates across the three host countries.
The proposed arrangement is intended to ease cross-border travel during the 2027 AFCON tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the three East African countries and President Museveni said he would follow up with his counterparts in Kenya and Tanzania, adding that discussions on the initiative had already begun.
The National AFCON Task Force, led by Prime Minister, Rt Hon Nabbanja, briefed the President on preparations for hosting the Pamoja tournament and provided an update on activities being undertaken by Government ministries, departments and agencies involved in preparations for the continental tournament.
