There was an allegation that I am here to tell Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda that I'm taking away the AFCON because our three countries are not going to be ready. That's totally unfounded. Sometimes I say certain things and the media either say something totally opposite or, like in this context, that I am enormously confident that we will succeed. Will there be challenges? There are always challenges. I had a big challenge in Cameroon soon after I became president. I was told by people whose views I respect that Cameroon is not ready, you have to take it away, and they recommended a number of countries which were ready because they had the infrastructure. But we have to believe in ourselves as Africans. We have to believe in our people and recognize that there will be challenges. But like we did in Cameroon, Cameroon was a huge success. And when we went to Côte d'Ivoire, the president of Côte d'Ivoire is here. Same problem. Lots of media saying Côte d'Ivoire will never be ready and we should take it away. But as I said, that principle that has made us in African football to succeed is because I was very clear, African football was very clear, that we're going to work together despite any challenges. And AFCON next year in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda is going to be enormously successful. One of the reasons why I was insisting that the CHAN takes place in our three countries, even though I recognized we were all working very hard to be ready last year in February. But when it was clear to me that we were not ready, I was also clear in my mind that we would all work together and have a CHAN last year August, which was the most successful CHAN. Just one final point I want to say so that I can close this. I was at the World Economic Forum in Davos and I've been going to these big meetings with some of the most prominent businessmen and heads of state. And there's always a huge obligation on us from Africa, as well as a huge commitment by all of us to make sure that we show our people that we can host an AFCON. We can host a football competition like the best in the world. We've just had the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition in Morocco. We had an enormously successful AFCON in Côte d'Ivoire. We had a successful AFCON in Cameroon. But we also have to send a message to all of our people on the continent that we believe in our capacity to succeed. We believe in our capacity to be as good as the best in the world because we have the skills and also we have the self-belief and the integrity. And that's why I really hope I will not hear this. I hope nobody will ask me that question as well. AFCON is going to be taken away or whether it's going to be in Kenya, Tanzania. You can ask me whatever question you want. If you want to ask me, go ahead and ask me. But I'm just emphasizing that I have a huge amount of confidence and I'm going to work very hard and we are all going to work. The EXCO is going to work hard. My vice presidents are going to work hard. I'm so proud of Wallace, the president of football in Tanzania. I'm so proud of Mohammed, the president of football in Kenya. And I'm proud of our vice president in Uganda. I'm proud of Magogo. And let me repeat, there will be information in the media over the next few months that this stadium is not ready, this pitch is not ready, the grass is not ready, there are not enough hotels, and we'll fix those challenges. We're going to have a celebration. And I was very proud, and I can say it as the president of the 54 football nations in Africa, I was so proud, Wallace, of how Tanzania played. Wallace. Yes. Yeah. I want to see you Wallace. You are hiding somewhere. I don't know. Yeah. I go forward, you go backwards. I go backwards, you go forward. I was so proud of how Tanzania played in Morocco. Very, very proud. I was so proud of how Uganda played. And in my head, Mohammed, I was also proud of how Kenya would have played. And we are going to use this competition to identify the best talent amongst our young boys and girls. And East Africa is going to be a powerhouse of the best football on the continent. As much as West Africa is a powerhouse, North Africa is a powerhouse, Southern Africa is a powerhouse. So, let's put that aside. And I really want to thank President Samia. Madame President Samia, please pass our deep gratitude to her for her commitment and for her support. And it's that sort of confidence and commitment, Wallace, by Madame President and by the government and the people of Tanzania that gives me a huge amount of confidence that we are going to succeed and do the same. President Ruto was sending a beautiful selfie around or a video of the beautiful stadiums. Please pass our regards and say that we are thankful for his support and the people of Kenya. And my brother, please, President Museveni, the same, and the government of Uganda and the people of Uganda. Now I have to go and talk about Morocco. And the first thing I want to do about Morocco is to express my personal deep gratitude and the deep gratitude of the 54 member associations on the continent who represent 54 countries. Our deep gratitude to His Majesty King Mohammed VI. May God assist him. Our deep gratitude to the people of Morocco. Our deep gratitude to the government of Morocco. Our deep gratitude to our brother Fouzi Lekjaa and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation for hosting the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition. Can we clap hands for them please? [applause] And also to thank them for their hospitality, to thank them for the infrastructure, the stadiums, the love that was shown by the people of Morocco to all our football lovers from all over the world. We're enormously grateful. And the success of AFCON in Morocco is a wonderful foundation on which to build and provide a huge inspiration for AFCON next year in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. I also want to express my personal deep gratitude to every one of the 24 nations that participated in AFCON Morocco. We are very proud of every one of you. And a special congratulations to Senegal for having won. And gratitude to the heads of state and the people of the 24 countries that were part of the AFCON in Morocco. We showed the world the best of African football and it's a moment of enormous pride. Now let me talk quickly as well about what disappointed me enormously. And when I gave my statement a few days after the AFCON in Morocco, I used the words I was extremely disappointed with what took place at the final. Very embarrassing. That should never happen again. It will never happen again. It's a blemish on the outstanding AFCON we had. And of course, as president of CAF, I may not comment on the proceedings which are in front of the CAF disciplinary board and is now apparently going to the appeal and will proceed thereafter and go to CAS if what I'm told will happen. But I'm very clear in my mind as the president of CAF and as the leadership of EXCO in the beautiful meeting we had now and the 54 nations whose member associations are part of CAF. We have a deep commitment, deep commitment. It is absolutely non-negotiable that we will maintain the integrity, we will maintain the credibility, we will maintain the impartiality of referees, African referees, CAF referees, VAR operators, and match commissioners. And we spent a lot of time in the meeting receiving a report from the chairman of the referees committee on the performance of the referees in the final and the performance of the match commissioners, of the VAR operators in the finals of the match in Morocco, as well as we spent some time talking about the performances of the referees throughout the competition. And I am absolutely determined, absolutely determined, and CAF is absolutely determined, and the leadership of CAF, the highest decision-making body in CAF, the CAF EXCO, to make sure that in the judgment of ordinary football people, there are two things we have been doing and we will do. We'll make sure that the referees and the VAR operators and the match commissioners are world-class in their training, in their expertise, in the quality of decisions they take. And it's very, very important, and that's why there's this consistent peer review. As the chairman of the referees committee came to give us a report on the CAF referees committee's assessment of the performance of the referee as well as of the performance of the VAR operators in the finals in Morocco. So we will make sure that the quality of our referees are world-class. And to the extent that there are challenges and problems and weaknesses, we'll fix them. But another very important thing, and this is very, very essential, that ordinary football lovers in Africa and throughout the world, they must look at the decisions that our referees and VAR operators take and believe that those decisions are just, fair, and equitable. So I'm absolutely confident that the excellent report we got about the performance of the referees and the VAR operators in Côte d'Ivoire, we got exceptional reports of the previous AFCON in 2023 where the feedback was African referees, African VAR operators are amongst the best in the world. So our expectation is that the AFCON in Morocco would continue and maintain that exceptional respect. And the perception overall is that, particularly in relation to some of the incidents in their totality, that it was a moment of extreme disappointment for me and we will fix that. One other thing I want to raise before I close that part is we took a resolution, EXCO took a resolution, that we will look at the rules, the regulations that are currently existing. And these are the rules and regulations that restricted, that prohibited, they put a limit on the quantum of sanctions and punishment and fines and various other sanctions that could have been imposed. So what we are clear is the sanctions, the fines that will be imposed, they have to be commensurate, they've got to reflect the gravity of the violation, of the contravention of the CAF statutes and regulations or even of the rules and regulations of the game. So that we will amend the CAF statutes, the CAF regulations, and the disciplinary code to make sure that there is an appropriately severe, an appropriately severe penalty, an appropriately severe sanction for extreme and severe violations of our rules, our regulations, and also for bringing the reputation and the respect of African football and the good name of African football into disrepute. What happened on the finals of the AFCON in Morocco, that behavior and conduct we don't ever want to see again. It should never happen again. We will not tolerate it. We've got zero tolerance and it's non-negotiable. And if people commit serious transgressions, there should be equally serious punishments and fines. Let's leave that and put that aside for a minute. This has been, if you put aside those blemishes, those moments where we need to change and we need to improve, and we will definitely change and we will definitely improve significantly to make sure that we are world-class in the decisions of referees, the match commissioners, the behavior of spectators, and our competitions. So the quality of football has been recognized as being world-class, amongst the best in the world. And as I said, the stadiums were world-class. The pitch, the cooperation from the government and the people of Morocco, as I said, enormously grateful. And we have been more successful than ever before. There were, I don't have that presentation now with me, but approximately, yeah, a huge, thank you, a huge amount of, I want to make sure that in terms of the number of sponsors, it's a record number. I think it's, in 2023, okay, so there's been a more than 100% increase. From Cameroon, we had five, in Cameroon we had six sponsors, in Morocco we had 23, now there's some 600. Yeah, I know, but the percentage increase, 680% increase in the number of sponsors. Enormously successful. It's the confidence and the excitement that sponsors have, but also the commercial viability because we want our sponsors to do well. And the revenue, the revenue in Cameroon, I've just, and it was 5 million in Cameroon. In Côte d'Ivoire it was 105, and 196 in Morocco. That's the revenue. So 5 in Cameroon, 105 in Côte d'Ivoire, huge improvement, almost double increase in revenue in Morocco. Enormously successful. What they call digital views or people watching either on TikTok or on Instagram or YouTube, Facebook, all-time record 6.1 billion. 6.1 billion digital views. So, African football is exciting. People love it. People want to watch it. And it also goes hand in hand with our commitment to use football to create jobs for our people, to bring investments in those countries that are hosting the AFCON, to have tourists come. According to one of the top companies in the world, it benefited to the value of 1.4 billion. We are still getting the numbers from Morocco. But this is, football is part of our commitment to improve the living conditions and standards of living of our people, quite apart from the huge love and the passion we have for football. 180 countries, Lux, 180 countries were watching the AFCON on television. It's exciting. Remember, we've got 54 countries in Africa. So, 126 countries from outside Africa are saying that African football is enormously attractive and they're keen to watch it. So we'll release those numbers later but we are enormously proud and enormously excited about the extreme and immense success. Two other issues. I had said to you in Morocco that CAF, our objective is to have an AFCON or the equivalent of an AFCON every year. Every year. Every year. Not every two years, every year. And the AFCON as we know it now, we want to increase it to 28 countries. And as we said that will take place once every four years. But remember, the AFCON as it is currently constituted is an important part that we want to maintain at least under the name of the Africa Nations League, have that coming together every two years. So every year there will be, we want also to build this regional or zonal competition because you know when you've got Tanzania playing Uganda or Tanzania playing Kenya or where you've got Côte d'Ivoire playing Senegal or Nigeria playing Ghana or Mozambique playing South Africa. We want to build football at grassroots level, but also one of the important objectives of the African Nations League is to contribute to the development and growth and investment in football infrastructure in every single one of our 54 nations. Why this African Nations League was also critical is there are still, the number is about 12 or 13, it has come down from 22 nations, and it varies, that don't play football in their countries. You cannot build football if the spectators and the fans cannot watch their national team, their football clubs play in their country. So we are confident that this African Nations League will contribute enormously to the improvement in the stadiums because every nation has to play. Every single one, not the 24 nations, every year 54 nations have to play. And I was saying to Wallace, you know, last year when they had the Confederation Cup and I gave instructions as president of CAF that we wanted the Confederation Cup final to be played in Dar es Salaam. Now, you know, people say other things which are factually incorrect. We gave an instruction but when the feedback was that Dar es Salaam did not meet the requirements, the Gapa stadium did not meet the requirements, I said fix it because we want full stadiums. I don't want Simba to be playing in Zanzibar. I love Zanzibar but I want a full stadium. It's Mkapa. I want you. Where's you? They must play in front of a full stadium here at Mkapa. I love Zanzibar, but it hasn't got the same capacity. It'll get there over time. So, you know, we do understand that at times people will make statements which are contrary to the clear instructions. And so that's why we came today. When I leave here I'll be going to the, Wallace. Wallace is listening in Swahili to my translation. When I leave here, I'll be going into the stadium. You know, when I started, when CAF started the African Football League, we insisted that the opening match must be here in Tanzania. It was all of the top countries, all of the top football clubs. But we told Gianni Infantino when we get into the plane and go to Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam because this country has got exceptional talent. So I'm going there now to go and see the beautiful work, the improvement of the infrastructure and the stadium in preparation for next year. We don't have time. We don't have time. But I'm excited about the passion and the commitment of Madame President. I'm excited about the passion and commitment of President Ruto and President Museveni. So we will be enormously successful next year. Have I forgotten anything? You okay? Have I forgotten anything? All right. So let me just see quickly here because they always say President, there's something else you should have said. I don't know what it is and maybe some of them will come. So we have to believe in ourselves, in our people as Africans. And when I say believe, I'm talking about believing that we can host and we will host an extremely successful AFCON in our three countries. You know what? You took the wrong document. I don't know. You left the right one elsewhere, but it's fine. Let me see. No, it's okay. All right. So if there are any questions, we will answer those questions. If you just say who you are, tell us which media you come from. And you can join us if you want to go and visit Benjamin Mkapa. We will be announcing in due course the date of when the competition will start. It's going to be next year June, July. So we'll tell you specifically what date. And I was saying to Wallace, of course there's a draw, but you know, in a legal, ethical, moral sense, I don't want, I want, we have to do in Africa what is done all over the world.
