Times of India 23^rd July, 2004

Ghana will stage the 2008 African Cup, the fourth time it has been selected as host, beating Libya in a vote of the African confederation's executive committee.

Ghana won nine of 12 votes, with Libya getting the other three, CAF spokesman Suleiman Habuba said.

Besides sharing the 2000 tournament with Nigeria, Ghana also hosted the biennal event in 1978 and 1963.

Libya, which hosted the cup in 1982, was trying to become the third straight Arabic-speaking country to stage the championship after Tunisia, which conducted the tournament in January and February, and Egypt, which has been selected to run the 2006 event.

``This is a democratic vote (and) people voted based on their conviction,'' Habuba said. ``This is an African tournament and Ghana is an African country.''

The chairman of Ghana's bid committee, Kofi Amoah, said his country has worked hard to host the event. Ghana has two stadiums ready and is expected to complete two new ones by 2008.

``I feel excited. I feel we have worked very hard to win this bid,'' Amoah said in a press release that appeared on the CAF's Web site. ``The 2008 tournament will be for the whole of African continent.''