AFCON 2021: "We expect France to help us with the organisation" (Ivory Coast)

"The Ivory Coast will host the Jeux de la Francophonie 2017 (the "Francophone Games) in Abidjan (21 to 30/07/2017), and then the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2021. The country is emerging from a decade of crisis. Sport enabled Ivorians to remain united despite the antagonism and violence: thanks to a worldwide sporting ambassador, Didier Drogba," said François Albert Amichia, minister for sport and recreation of the Ivory Coast, at the 4^th Rencontres Internationales Grands Evénements Sportifs (or RIGES, the "International Meeting of Large Sporting Events", in Paris (FRA), on 26/05/2016.

"The president and prime minister pay particular attention to the Jeux de la Francophonie and the AFCON. With regards to the former, we have fallen behind in infrastructure. We have to renovate 12-13 sites and build two sporting and cultural venues," said the man who is also the mayor of Treichville in the Abidjan agglomeration.

"AFCON is a huge challenge for the Ivory Coast. We hosted it in 1984. In 2021, there will be 16 participating nations. We need to build stadiums for the competition…