Photo credit, Reuters
After the shock announcement 10 months ago that the African Cup of Nations (CAN) would be held every four years, the governing body of football on the continent made an about-face.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will therefore retain the traditional organization of the tournament every two years, its president Patrice Motsepe affirming that this turnaround was based on the desire to “advance, protect and promote” the interests of African football.
The first signs that the frequency of the CAN was being reconsidered appeared during the CAF strategic conference in Cape Verde earlier this month.
Questions are now being asked about the decision-making process and its consequences for the future of African football.
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Why was this planned change controversial?
The CAN has generally been held every two years since its first edition in 1957, with the exception of two three-year interruptions in the 1960s and one year between the 2012 and 2013 tournaments.
On the eve of the 2025 final in Morocco, Motsepe announced everything that would change from 2028.
The South African said the move to a four-year cycle was, in part, to help the global calendar “be significantly more synchronized and harmonized”.
In recent years, the CAN has taken place in the middle of the European club season, which has led to recurring conflicts over the provision of African players.
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FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sat alongside Motsepe when the plan was announced, and critics pointed out that the change in calendar favored soccer's world governing body more than African football.
“I think the general feeling on the continent is that the two-year cycle has served the continent very well,” Football Federation of Zambia (FAZ) head Sydney Mungala told the BBC.
“The idea of extending the cycle to four years somewhat surprised, even worried, most African federations. »
What were the benefits of this change?
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The AFCON has become CAF's main source of revenue, with a profit of $114 million (£85 million) predicted for the 2025 AFCON, compared to $75 million (£56 million) for the previous finals in Ivory Coast.
As a replacement, an annual African League of Nations, bringing together the continent's 54 countries, was proposed. Motsepe described this ambition as creating a “world-class competition every year”.
The idea was to overcome CAF's heavy dependence on the CAN and develop a more sustainable business model, capable of supporting the development of football.
Yet the last time an ambitious alternative competition was held in Africa, it failed to deliver on its financial promises and was quickly abandoned.
The African Super League, announced by CAF in 2022 to revolutionize the continental club competition, and with projected annual revenues of $200m (£149m), has been abandoned after just one edition.
Motsepe later admitted that the trade deals had not lived up to expectations.
“We did not move forward as quickly because the partners who financed us did not offer us conditions that satisfied us,” he said.
Why this change of heart regarding the CAN?
The decision to move to a four-year cycle was taken at a meeting of the CAF executive committee last December, without having been submitted to a general assembly where all member nations are represented.
“These kinds of decisions should be submitted to the general assembly, they should be debated and discussed for months,” Algerian journalist Maher Mezahi told the BBC.
“The CAN is the engine that allows CAF to finance all its other competitions. »
CAF then asked its 54 associations to express a preference between maintaining the four-year format and maintaining the initial schedule, and the executive committee ultimately voted to restore the status quo.
Motsepe said the move was in the “best interest of African football” and would contribute to the development and growth of the sport.
He also admitted to having reservations about the new Nations League, fearing it would take "several years" before it could make the "substantial financial and football development contributions" needed to help continental football become "self-sufficient".
What is FIFA's role in all this?
Photo credit, Getty Images
FIFA President Gianni Infantino first publicly proposed holding the AFCON every four years in February 2020, an idea that Motsepe rejected after his election as CAF president 13 months later.
That hasn't stopped the South African from cultivating a close relationship with his counterpart, and Infantino's drive to expand the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams – and thereby increase African representation at the tournament – has won him support across the continent.
However, the Swiss' position has been under threat since his plan to sell stakes in FIFA competitions was leaked in July.
Since then, Infantino has worked to consolidate his power in preparation for his re-election bid, including at this month's CAF strategy meeting.
“He came to Cape Verde for support, and, overall, Africa gave him that support,” Mezahi said.
“But I think they did this in exchange for give and take – they gave him their support in exchange for certain concessions. »
“And I think the main concession was the return of the African Cup of Nations [to a two-year cycle].
“This shows that Africa is willing to assert its influence and defend its interests, even in the face of the interests of the global game. »
Why are CAN revenues so important?
The CAN is the financial lifeline of CAF, representing a substantial portion of the governing body's revenue.
The Morocco 2025 World Cup was expected to generate $192 million (£143 million), or 66% of CAF's total revenue from the men's, women's and age group competitions.
For many sports federations, the importance of the CAN goes well beyond the tournament, because they cannot always count on constant investment from governments or businesses.
“We have 11 [Zambian] national teams and only two are partially sponsored by the government,” said Mungala, a Faz official.
“The rest must be financed by FA funds. In reality, some of these programs are financed by support from CAF and FIFA. »
What about the next editions of the CAN?
Photo credit, Kenya Ministry of Interior/Kelly Ayodi
CAN 2027 is scheduled to take place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17 next year.
Yet during a visit to East Africa in September, Motsepe called for “greater urgency” to ensure stadiums and supporting infrastructure were ready on time.
The next CAN will be held a year later, in 2028 – a decision taken by CAF when planning the move to a four-year cycle and which it has decided to maintain.
No announcement regarding the location and exact date of the final has yet been made.
The following tournaments will be held in 2031 and 2033 to avoid any overlap with the World Cup.
The proposed launch date for the League of African Nations is September 2029.
Motsepe's latest statement suggests that the new competition will also be held every two years - and not annually as he initially announced last December - but it raises the question of how to find the space needed for matches to take place in an AFCON year starting in 2031.
While the debate continues around the overloaded calendar of the competition, CAF's turnaround regarding the programming has at least made it possible to preserve the tradition of the biggest African sporting event.
It also highlights the difficulty of finding a viable financial model that benefits both African football and the demands of world football.
We used AI to help translate this article, originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked the translation before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
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