Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick says the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will give Cameroon all the needed support to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations provided they meet all the expectations.
Pinnick made this known while speaking as a guest on Soccer Africa show on Super Sport television on Thursday.
There has been question mark on Cameroon’s ability to host the 2019 edition of the AFCON with talks of possibility of a new host should falter in providing necessary requirements.
Pinnick assured that Cameroon will be given all the necessary backing before any talk of taking the hosting right from them will be considered.
“We want Cameroon to host AFCON 2019, but they can only do so by matching the very high standards that the new CAF has set,” Pinnick stated.
“We will exhaust all possibilities and give Cameroon all the support that is necessary for them to be ready to host, before taking it away.”
Pinnick dismissed reports making the rounds about CAF getting back at former president Issa Hayatou who was ousted by current leader Ahmad Ahmad of Madagascar.
He said: “The new CAF wants to do away with artificial divisions and colonial creations along linguistic divisions. No one is witch-hunting Hayatou.”
On the current troubles in the Cameroon Football Fedration, Pinnick said the idea of setting up Normalisation Committee by FIFA was to restore sanity.
“There has to be give-and-take on both sides. FIFA does not entertain interference in running of the game, but wisdom is key here,” he said.
“Normalisation Committee was set up in Cameroon by FIFA as a result of extreme, irreconcilable positions by the different parties.”
On the issues bedeviling Sierra Leonean football, and CAF’s expectations for AFCON, Pinnick said: “I appeal to the Govt of Sierra Leone to mellow down on the country’s FA issues, because Isha Johansen is an asset to football globally.
“AFCON should be bigger than what it is now. It should be a destination for vacation and add value to African football in all areas.”
