CAIRO (AP) — The Africa Cup of Nations will continue every two years after the Confederation of African Football announced on Friday it voted unanimously to revoke the decision to move the tournament to a four-year cycle.
CAF announced last December that the Africa Cup would be held every four years, starting from 2028, allowing a proposed new competition — the African Nations League — to take place for the first time in 2029.
The decision at the time, bringing the competition to a schedule that aligned with FIFA’s international calendar, rankled many at the Africa Cup in Morocco, with some saying it was made with European wishes at heart to the detriment of African interests.
CAF said in October that it was reconsidering the matter.
“The decision by the CAF EXCO that the CAF 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,” CAF President Patrice Motsepe said in a statement.
“We were also concerned by the several years required before the proposed new Africa Nations League Pan-African competition could make the substantial financial and football development contributions for African football and CAF competitions to be globally competitive and self-supporting.”
The next Africa Cup will go ahead as planned in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next year, with the subsequent tournaments taking 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 confederation's national teams competitions may not take place during the year of the FIFA World Cup,” Motsepe said.
___
