Morocco will be handed the last minute right to host the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), former Egypt international goalkeeper Ahmed Shobier has revealed.
The claim by the legendary shot stopper means Cameroon will be stripped of the right to host the tournament as a damning report casts doubts over the country's preparedness to host the competition.
Cameroon was already struggling to host the competition of 16 countries but the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams is bound to exacerbate their problems of the construction of new stadia.
The 2019 African Cup of Nations is the first of its kind to witness the presence of 24 teams in the competition with the first being the summer of next year.
Last year when the issue of Cameroon's problems surfaced with Morocco accused of angling to take over the competition, the North African country pledged its allegiance to helping Cameroon host a successful expanded competition.
But with the progress of work said to have overly delayed, CAF is likely to consider other options with Morocco very high on the agenda according to Shobeir.
Shobier's claims suggest that the Central African country's general preparation to host Africa in less than 12 months is generally poor which has resulted in the inspection team's decision to recommend that Cameroon be stripped of the right to host the tournament.
The man, who is now a television pundit on Egyptian TV, wrote that Morocco will be chosen to replace Cameroon as the hosts of the competition.
"African Cup of Nations 2019 Morocco: a decision issued by the CAF," Shobier wrote on his Facebook page.
Widespread speculation in Egypt media circles suggest the inspection report recorded several failures that have damaged the chances of Cameroon with the construction of the infrastructure branded as 'woefully insufficient to specifications'.
Shobeir's posting on his official Facebook page implies that CAF has clearly been shown that Cameroon is unable to organize the African competition and that the football body is awaiting the appropriate opportunity to announce the decision.
CAF had placed a lot of premium on the report by the independent inspection team before their eight-day inspection visit before deciding if preparations were deemed to be behind schedule.
CAF leader Ahmad Ahmad said then that will put much weight behind the inspection team's report.
"We have decided that it is no longer the Caf Executive Committee who will inspect the countries selected for the organization of the AFCON.
"It is now experts who will do it and Caf will decide based on their report," Ahmad said.
Cameroonian news agencies reported few weeks ago that the Local Organizing Committee was facing special difficulties following the suspension of work at stadium construction sites and the failure of workers to continue their work because they had not received their wages for more than four months.