A return to AFCON would be a statement of intent for Ethiopian football.
There is also a football case for the tournament. Ethiopia’s recent record has been modest - the report says the national team is ranked 143rd in the world and last appeared at AFCON in 2022, exiting in the group stage. Hosting can act as a reset, forcing investment that outlives the competition itself.
This is where the bid will be judged hardest.
The report points to insurgencies in Amhara and Oromia, with concern that conflict could resume in Tigray. For CAF, that is not background noise; it is the first line of evaluation. A host nation must offer safe team bases, secure travel routes and confidence for supporters, officials and broadcasters. If that picture is unclear, the rest of the bid becomes much harder to sell.
Modern AFCON hosting is not only about one flagship stadium. It requires tournament-ready venues, training facilities, hotels, transport links and operational reliability across several sites. Ethiopia’s size and profile are strengths, but the bid appears likely to stand or fall on whether those guarantees can be shown convincingly and early.
The next step is whether this proposal gathers momentum inside CAF’s process. Between now and the final decision, the key storyline will be simple: can Ethiopia turn a bold political and sporting vision into a host plan that feels secure, practical and ready for 2028?