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Johanneburg - Zambia will not bid to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, top official Kalusha Bwalya confirmed Monday.
The southern Africa country wanted to stage the 2019 tournament, but lost out to Cameroon at the weekend.
Strife-torn Libya recently withdrew as 2017 hosts and a September 30 deadline has been set for applications to replace the north African country.
But 1988 African Footballer of the Year Bwalya said Zambia would not be among the bidders.
"That is something we cannot do," the national football association president told reporters.
Association secretary general George Kasengele said Zambia would stage the 2017 African youth championship.
"Hosting the Cup of Nations is something we cannot contemplate because our resources will be used to stage the youth championship."
Zambia were awarded the 1988 Cup of Nations only to withdraw for financial reasons and be replaced by Morocco.
Media speculation has mentioned Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Zimbabwe as possible 2017 contenders.
CAF said they wanted bids only from countries who already had the necessary facilities to stage the biennial African football showpiece.
