Egypt is “technically capable of pulling this off”, said James Dorsey, a Middle East analyst at RSIS in Singapore. “It’s an opportunity for the government to deliver something that people care about” at a time of economic crisis, said Dorsey. But at the international level, the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is regularly accused by human rights organisations of serious violations, including politically motivated arrests and torture in prisons. “I don’t think (staging Africa Cup of Nations) will distract from the criticism of the Egyptian government,” said Dorsey.