LAGOS, 6th April ?99 -

A senior Nigerian leader has confirmed that Nigeria will co-host next year's African Nations Cup finals with Ghana, newspapers reported on Monday. Last month, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Nigeria and Ghana would jointly host the tournament after taking it away from Zimbabwe, whose facilities were judged not to have met the required standards.

But Nigerian opinion was divided, with one official quoted as saying it was an insult to Nigeria and suggesting Ghana should stage it alone.

Nigerian soccer authorities said CAF had indefinitely postponed a Nations Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Senegal scheduled for April 10 in Lagos, pending Nigeria's response to the co-hosting offer.

But Vice-Admiral Mike Akhigbe, second in the Nigerian leadership, appears to have removed doubts about his country's position.

"Nigeria is looking forward to co-hosting the competition with Ghana next year," the semi-official Daily Times newspaper quoted Akhigbe as saying in Ibadan on Sunday at the world youth cup, which Nigeria is organising.