The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has abandoned plans to stage the Africa Cup of Nations every four years, retaining the tournament’s traditional biennial schedule.
Caf president Patrice Motsepe said the reversal was made to “advance, protect and promote” the interests of African football.
The proposed change, announced by Motsepe on the eve of the 2025 finals in Morocco, would have taken effect from 2028. The first indication that the plan was being reconsidered came at Caf’s strategy conference in Cape Verde earlier this month.
Afcon has been held every two years since its first edition in 1957, apart from two three-year gaps in the 1960s and a one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 tournaments.
Motsepe had argued that a four-year cycle would help make the international calendar “significantly more synchronised and harmonised”. Afcon is often played during the European club season, creating regular disputes over the release of African players.
Fifa general secretary Mattias Grafstrom was seated alongside Motsepe when the original change was announced, prompting criticism that the proposal served Fifa’s interests more than those of African football.
“The general sentiment around the continent has been that the two-year cycle has served the continent very well,” Football Association of Zambia (Faz) official Sydney Mungala told the BBC.
“The idea of pushing it to a four-year cycle was a bit of a surprise, maybe a concern, to the bulk of the African federations.”
Afcon remains Caf’s financial foundation
Afcon is Caf’s biggest revenue generator. A profit of $114m (£85m) was forecast for the 2025 tournament, compared with $75m (£56m) from the previous finals in Ivory Coast.
The proposed replacement was an annual Africa Nations League involving all 54 countries, which Motsepe said could become a “world-class competition every year”. The aim was to reduce Caf’s dependence on Afcon and create a more sustainable source of funding for football development.
However, the Africa Super League, launched in 2022 with projected annual revenues of $200m (£149m), was discontinued after one edition. Motsepe later said commercial partners had not offered the expected deals.
The decision to change Afcon’s schedule was taken by Caf’s executive committee last December, without being presented to a general assembly representing all member nations.
“These kinds of decisions should be put to the general assembly, they should be debated and discussed for months at a time,” Algerian journalist Maher Mezahi said.
Caf later asked its 54 associations to choose between the four-year format and the traditional schedule. The executive committee subsequently voted to restore the two-year cycle.
Motsepe also admitted doubts about the Nations League, saying it could take “several years” to make “the substantial financial and football development contributions” needed to make African football “self-supporting”.
Fifa’s influence and the next tournaments
Fifa president Gianni Infantino first proposed a four-year Afcon in February 2020. Despite initially rejecting the idea, Motsepe has developed a close relationship with Infantino, whose expansion of the Fifa World Cup to 48 teams has increased African representation.
Mezahi said Infantino attended the Cape Verde meeting to gain support and suggested the return to a two-year Afcon was part of a “quid pro quo”.
Afcon 2025 was projected to generate $192m (£143m), or 66% of Caf’s competition revenue across men’s, women’s and age-group football. Mungala said Zambia’s 11 national teams depended on Caf and Fifa funding because only two received partial government sponsorship.
The 2027 tournament is scheduled for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July. Motsepe has urged organisers to accelerate preparations, while Kenya’s 60,000-seat Talanta Stadium is due to host matches.
Afcon will return in 2028, with later editions planned for 2031 and 2033 to avoid World Cup clashes. The Africa Nations League is proposed to begin in September 2029, although Motsepe now appears to envisage a two-year rather than annual competition, raising questions over how its fixtures would fit around Afcon.
