Tanzania’s Biggest AFCON 2027 Headache? Living Up to Morocco’s Standard

Morocco set the bar impossibly high. Now Tanzania has to clear it.

TFF president Wallace Karia sat down with a CAF delegation this week and named the challenge plainly — his tournament needs to do what Morocco’s did, and then some. AFCON 2025 generated over €1 billion in direct revenues. CAF president Patrice Motsepe has told the East African co-hosts he wants them to match and exceed it.

“This is a great challenge for us,” Karia said. “I want the players to come and play football but also discover East Africa.”

Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Stadium is under construction, targeting 80% completion by August 2026 — when CAF’s next inspection lands. A second check follows in December. Test events come after that. Time is short and the standards are brutal.

Legacy, culture, football. Karia wants all three. Getting the stadium built first would be a solid start