By Obaloluwa Joshua, LAGOS
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has reverted to a two-year cycle for the Africa Cup of Nations abandoning its earlier plan to stage the continental tournament every four years.
The decision was unanimously approved at a CAF Executive Committee meeting on Thursday.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe had recently disclosed at the continent’s strategy conference in Cabo Verde that the Executive Committee would review and reconsider the decision taken last year to move AFCON to a four-year cycle.
CAF had initially proposed that the newly introduced African Nations League would replace AFCON as the continent’s biennial football competition.
However, the continental football governing body acknowledged that the African Nations League would require several years to develop the capacity to become globally competitive and financially self-sustaining.
“The decision by the CAF EXCO that the 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 was quoted by CAFonline.
“We were also concerned by the several years required before the proposed new Africa Nations League Pan-African competition, (which was supposed to be identical to the current AFCON and take place every two years), could make the substantial financial and football development contributions for African Football and CAF competitions to be globally competitive and self-supporting.”
” The next 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.
“The AFCON competition is also about celebrating African Football and Africa’s rich and diverse cultures, customs and traditions and bringing people together from Africa’s 54 Countries, the African Diaspora and throughout the world. The CAF EXCO decision is in the best interest of African Football and CAF’s 54 Member Associations and will also contribute significantly to the development and growth of football in Africa.”
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