CAF has taken the decision to return to the Africa Cup of Nations taking place every two years. This follows an Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, which voted unanimously on the matter.
“The Confédération Africaine de Football (“CAF”) Executive Committee (“EXCO”) today unanimously decided that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (“AFCON”) will return to taking place every Two Years,” reads a statement on the CAF website.
It should be noted that on the eve of the kickoff of the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe announced that the tournament had moved to being staged after four years.
However, barely a year later, the decision has been reversed after wider consultations.
“This reassessment and reconsideration was necessitated by, amongst other matters, the recognition that the proposed new Africa Nations League Pan-African Competition, which was supposed to replace the current AFCON and take place every two years, would require several years in order to be in a position to contribute the substantial financial resources necessary for the CAF Competitions and African Football to be globally competitive and self-supporting.”
Motsepe further stated that the decision by the CAF EXCO that AFCON should take place every two years was based on advancing, protecting and promoting the interest of African Football and CAF’s 54 Member Associations, as well as the interest of African players employed by Football Clubs outside Africa.
Motsepe went ahead to confirm that the next AFCON editions will take place in 2027, 2028, 2031 and 2033.
“The next TotalEnergies CAF AFCON will take place in 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and I am confident that it will be very successful. The subsequent AFCONs thereafter will take place in 2028, 2031 and 2033. The forthcoming FIFA World Cup will take place in 2030, and in accordance with the FIFA tradition, the final tournament of the AFCON and other Confederations National Teams competitions may not take place during the year of the FIFA World Cup,” he confirmed.
