Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have put in a joint bid to host the 2032 Africa Cup of Nations, with all three countries currently run by military governments. The bid lands in the middle of a region already under heavy strain, where security remains a major concern and the people living under these regimes are the ones who will carry the costs of any grand sporting showcase.
Who Has the Power
The Confederation of African Football opened applications for the 2028, 2032 and 2036 tournaments, and the final decision on hosts rests with Caf's executive committee, not with Caf president Patrice Motsepe personally. Motsepe said the three countries "will have as good a chance as everybody else" and that they would not be disadvantaged "because they are military juntas," though he added that safety questions "will have to be addressed." He also said Caf must "deal with reality" while insisting democracy, free speech and elections remain "non-negotiable."
That language does a lot of work. The football bureaucracy gets to talk about equality and principle while still sorting through the practical mess created by military rule, insurgency and the need for guarantees on fan safety, free movement and infrastructure before anyone gets a trophy parade. Motsepe said he plans to visit the three countries to discuss the football side of the bid.
The heads of the Malian, Burkinabé and Nigerien football federations met Motsepe in New York on Saturday, ahead of the 2026 World Cup final. Niger's honorary federation president, Colonel-Major Djibrilla Hima Hamidou, also attended. The setting says plenty. Decisions about African football, and the prestige that comes with them, still run through elite meetings in New York while the countries themselves remain under military governments.
Who Pays for the Bid
Mali's football federation said the plan is built on "solidarity, regional integration and sustainable development" of the game in Africa, and said it would work with the relevant authorities to put together a strong bid. The phrase sounds polished enough for a conference brochure. The reality underneath is harsher: the three countries quit the West African bloc Ecowas last year and then formed their own alliance, the Alliance of Sahel States, focused on security, trade and infrastructure.
Security is not a side issue here. All three nations are fighting jihadist insurgencies, and their governments have shifted away from Western military partners toward closer ties with Russia. That means the bid sits inside a wider political rearrangement, one driven by armed power, regional isolation and the search for new patrons. The football pitch doesn't escape that. It gets folded into it.
Burkina Faso hosted Afcon in 1998, and Mali in 2002. Next year's tournament, in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will be the first with three co-hosts. From 2028, Afcon switches to a four-year cycle. Caf has also received "exciting bids" for future editions and is still weighing whether to expand the tournament from 24 to 28 teams.
What They're Building Besides Football
The AES bloc is building its own media presence too. On Tuesday, Burkina Faso's transitional parliament approved two joint outlets, Daande Liptako Radio and Tafouk TV, meant to promote the alliance and boost regional cooperation on information. That's the same political architecture now asking to host a continental football tournament: military governments, a new bloc, and state-backed messaging dressed up as regional unity.
Caf says it wants guarantees before choosing any host. Fan safety. Free movement. Infrastructure. Those are the conditions on paper. On the ground, the bid comes from governments fighting insurgencies, having broken with Ecowas, and now trying to present themselves as stable enough to host one of African football's biggest events. The heads of the federations made their pitch in New York. The people living under these juntas will live with the consequences either way.