Uganda’s AFCON 2027 organisers have explained why official promotional activities remain limited, despite the tournament moving within nine months of kickoff.
Uganda will co-host the competition with Kenya and Tanzania from June 19, 2027, under the three-country PAMOJA hosting arrangement.
However, the tournament’s official logo, mascot and theme song are among key branding elements still being finalised before major promotional activities can begin.
Dr Denis Mugimba, chairperson of the Uganda LOC Communications and Promotion Sub-Committee, acknowledges growing public interest in seeing the tournament promoted more aggressively.
“We are aware that the public would like to see the commencement of official promotional activities for AFCON-2027,” Mugimba said.
He explained that CAF owns all brand rights associated with AFCON 2027, meaning individual host countries cannot independently determine the tournament’s official identity.
Uganda’s LOC is consequently working with CAF as the continental football body develops branding templates that will guide promotional activities across the three countries.
“The owner of all brand rights for AFCON-2027 is CAF,” Mugimba said in the LOC’s latest update on tournament preparations.
“Therefore, as LOC, we are working closely with CAF in designing the various brand templates to be used in AFCON-2027 promotions.”
Those templates will include some of the tournament’s most recognisable features, including its official logo, mascot and theme song, alongside other branding elements.
The eventual unveiling of those properties should provide the hosts with important tools for building the tournament’s identity and generating public excitement before kickoff.
“As soon as these items are finalized, CAF will coordinate the PAMOJA LOCs by sharing an activations roadmap,” Mugimba explained.
The roadmap should provide Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania with a coordinated framework for promoting Africa’s premier national team football tournament.
For Uganda, that should pave the way for more visible public activations as organisers attempt to take AFCON beyond stadium construction and preparation meetings.
The delayed rollout is not being attributed to a lack of government resources, with Mugimba saying funding for promotional activities has already been provided.
“As LOC Uganda, we are grateful that the Government of the Republic of Uganda has already availed us the necessary resources for AFCON-2027 operations,” Mugimba said.
Those resources include funding for promotional activities as Uganda builds towards hosting its first Africa Cup of Nations alongside its East African neighbours.
Meanwhile, infrastructure preparations continue, with Mandela National Stadium, Hoima City Stadium and Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium forming Uganda’s three principal tournament venues.
The LOC expects the three stadiums to be ready by December 2026, while ten of the 12 designated training facilities should also be completed.