November 2: The Africa Cup of Nations will keep its biennial cycle, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed, having previously flirted with moving to a four-year cycle at FIFA’s request.
In a statement, CAF said: “This re-evaluation and reconsideration was necessitated, inter alia, by the recognition that the proposed new pan-African competition of the League of African Nations, which was to replace the current AFCON and would take place every two years, would require several years to be in a position to provide the substantial financial resources required for the global and self-sustaining competition of CAF and African football.”
The decision to maintain a two-year cycle marks a U-turn after CAF had planned to host the continent’s flagship tournament every four years and introduce a Nations League. CAF, led by president Patrice Motsepe, had opted to host the tournament every four years in December, but the decision was not welcomed by members.
CAF member associations complained that by not playing they would lose money and competitive advantage. For the African players the complaint was that the opportunities to showcase their talent had been halved. Motsepe had wanted to follow FIFA’s request to clear the calendar to make international commercial and media space for his own competitions.
Motsepe said the new decision was made “to protect and promote the interest of African football”.
The Africa Cup of Nations has often clashed with club schedules in Europe, causing friction between participating national teams and clubs from the old continent whose players were required by FIFA rules to play for their nations. However, with European clubs generally operating with fewer key players from Africa, club complaints are likely to be less.
The African Cup of Nations is scheduled for 2028, 2031 and 2033.
Returning to East Africa, the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be hosted by neighbors Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Earlier this year, the trio hosted the African Nations Championship (CHAN) as a dress rehearsal.
Contact the writer of this story at (email protected)
