Egyptian Football Association submits bid to replace Cameroon as next year’s African Cup of Nations host.

The Egyptian Football Association says it has submitted a bid to replace Cameroon as next year’s African Cup of Nations host, a surprise pitch by the North African country which wasn’t initially thought of as a contender.

Egypt‘s bid, announced on Thursday to meet Friday’s deadline, came after Morocco said this week it wouldn’t put itself forward as a candidate.

Morocco had been considered the frontrunner after being a candidate to host the 2026 World Cup. It lost out in that race to a joint United States-Mexico-Canada bid.

The Confederation of African Football has given countries until the end of Friday to submit bids for the 2019 African Cup, which was taken away from Cameroon last month because of poor preparations and a violent uprising in parts of that country.

CAF wants a new host in place by December 31, with the tournament in June and July looming.

South Africa is another possible stand-in host, but the South African Football Association has not confirmed it will bid and says it needs government approval before any decision.