Gabon chosen as host of 2017 African Cup

.

View photo

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, second left, speaks during a joint press conference with Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou, second right, and FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, left, and Confederation of African Football Secretary General Hicham El Amrani in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, April 7, 2015. Every one of Africa's 54 member countries will vote for Sepp Blatter in next month's FIFA presidential election, the continent's soccer boss said on Tuesday, referring to the 79-year-old Swiss as "dear Sepp ". (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

CAIRO (AP) — Gabon will host the 2017 African Cup of Nations in place of war-torn Libya.
Gabon, which co-hosted the tournament in 2012, was chosen
Wednesday in a vote by the Confederation of African Football's executive committee in Cairo.
Gabon was selected over rival bids from Algeria and Ghana.

Libya was initially scheduled to host the event in 2013, but swapped that tournament with South Africa to give it more time to be ready.

The North African nation conceded last August that it still wouldn't be able to organize the 16-team event in 2017 and pulled out citing security concerns, forcing CAF to restart the bidding process.

Egypt was among the four final contenders but withdrew to support its fellow North African bid from Algeria.