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Nigeria keen to host AFCON

Cape Town - Seyi Akinwunmi, vice-president of the Nigeria Football Federation, says the West African nation is interested in hosting the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Morocco are the current host country, but they recently requested a delay in the staging of the competition due to ongoing concerns over the spread of the Ebola virus.

And with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) rejecting Morocco's request, several other nations have expressed an interest in stepping into the breach.

South Africa were mooted as a possible alternative but ruled themselves out of the running for hosting rights.

However, Nigeria have welcomed the possibility of staging the 2015 edition of the tournament, although they are yet to receive any contact from CAF.

Akinwunmi told Goal.com: "I think we are interested [in hosting the Afcon].

"It is not strictly the purview of the NFF alone but we have been asked [if we can host the competition] and we have said yes, why not?

"I think that the National Sports Commission or the Federal Government is looking at the possibility of hosting the tournament."

Hosting the tournament would certainly come with several perks, including automatic qualification as the host nation.

The Super Eagles are currently on the verge of missing out on qualification, having picked up just four points from their opening four qualifiers.

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