ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — West Africa will stage three straight African Cup of Nations tournaments after Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Guinea were chosen as hosts for the 2019, 2021 and 2023 events yesterday.

The decisions were announced by Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou after a two-day meeting of CAF’s executive committee in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Guinea’s selection as 2023 host was unscheduled and a surprise. CAF had said its executive committee would vote to decide only the 2019 and 2021 host countries. There was no immediate explanation why CAF also voted on the 2023 host.

Bringing a week of meetings in Ethiopia to a close, Africa’s football body also repeated its backing for FIFA President Sepp Blatter for re-election next year, with Hayatou praising Blatter by saying the 78-year-old Swiss had helped Africa host its first World Cup in

South Africa in 2010.

“We wouldn’t have trusted him (Blatter) had we not seen what he had done for us in the past,” Hayatou said at the African Union headquarters. “He has helped us host the World Cup. Actually, I would have been FIFA president by now had it not been for African’s rejection (of me) for the post back in 2002.”

Hayatou challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2002 and lost.

Africa has been a strong supporter of Blatter since he took FIFA’s top position in 1998. CAF had already declared its support for Blatter at the FIFA Congress in Brazil ahead of this year’s World Cup.

There was “unanimous support” for Blatter from CAF’s executive committee, the confederation said yesterday.

Cameroon, Hayatou’s home country, won hosting rights for the African championship in 2019, the second time it has hosted and the first time since 1972. Ivory Coast hosted its only previous Cup of Nations in 1984, while Guinea has never held the tournament.

Algeria and Zambia were the other countries bidding to host one of the cups in 2019 and 2021.

Hayatou also announced an extension to the CAF ban on games in the Ebola-affected countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Citing information from the World Health Organisation, Hayatou said the ban on the three countries would remain in place until further notice, meaning Guinea and Sierra Leone could be forced to play all their remaining 2015 African Cup qualifiers outside their home country.

Guinea played their first home game in the ongoing qualifiers in neutral Morocco and Sierra Leone are planning to play their scheduled home games in Congo.

In its latest count, WHO says nearly 2,000 people have died from Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The deadly virus has also emerged in Nigeria and Senegal, but they haven’t been prevented from hosting African Cup qualifiers. Liberia aren’t part of the final qualifying competition.

Morocco will stage next year’s 16-team African Cup. The 2017 version doesn’t have a host after Libya pulled out citing security concerns, forcing CAF to restart the bidding process for that tournament.