Cameroon 'ready' to host enlarged AFCON

The head of Cameroon's FA says his country will be ready to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in spite of the sweeping changes made to the event during the week. "I spoke this morning with our country's hierarchy and the decision is that Cameroon is ready to host," Tombi A Roko Sidiki told BBC Sport, on Friday. Instead of the traditional 16-team finals, the AFCON has moved to 24 teams beginning from 2019. Before winning hosting rights Cameroon had no plans of receiving 24 teams. These changes came after a symposium organized by Caf in Morocco during the week.

This comes amid growing concern over Cameroon's readiness for the event which had prompted sports minister to reiterate his country's level of preparedness days back during a media outing. Some nations, particularly Morocco and Algeria, have expressed their desire to replace Cameroon should they step back. "Morocco will not hesitate for a second to respond favourably to any invitation to host this Nations Cup," said the country's FA president Faouzi Lekjaa, the BBC reports.

"There are some countries that who would like to host this competition but they should keep quiet and think about other editions and not 2019 because Cameroon will be ready," Tombi A Roko Sidiki told the BBC. Caf has also moved the calendar of the finals from January-February to June-July. This will help African players to avoid clashes between their nations and clubs abroad.