CAF set to weigh Africa Cup of Nations bids as 2027 preparations face scrutiny

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will hold a virtual executive committee meeting on Thursday to review the countries and joint bids seeking to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2028, 2032 and 2036.

The meeting will be chaired by CAF president Patrice Motsepe and is expected to cover a wide range of issues affecting the organisation of football across the continent.

Among the most urgent matters is the progress of preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which is due to be staged in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from 19 June to 17 July next year.

CAF’s deadline for assessing the standard and progress of the construction and renovation work in the three host countries expires this month. The review could prove significant, with widespread scepticism surrounding the ability of the “Pamoja” trio to deliver the tournament because of delays and logistical shortcomings.

Motsepe reaffirmed CAF’s commitment to the three-country hosting arrangement about two weeks ago, but concerns over the readiness of the venues and wider infrastructure remain.

The executive committee is also expected to examine the bids for the 2028, 2032 and 2036 tournaments. At present, only two applications have been officially confirmed: Libya’s bid for the 2028 edition and a joint proposal from Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali for the 2032 tournament.

Egypt, the South Africa-Botswana partnership and Ethiopia have not formally confirmed that they have submitted bids for 2028. Senegal has also yet to officially confirm its application for the 2032 competition.

Another issue likely to be discussed is CAF’s proposed expansion of the Africa Cup of Nations to 28 teams. The confederation has not yet indicated which future edition would be the first to use the new format.

The meeting will also consider how to fit a large number of competitions into an increasingly crowded international calendar. Those events include the men’s and women’s CAF Champions League, the CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF Super Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations tournaments at Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 level, and the inaugural Women’s Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

The September international window has already been allocated to qualifying matches for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, adding to the scheduling challenge.

CAF officials are also expected to discuss a date for the 2026 CAF Awards, which are scheduled to take place in Nigeria. The previous four editions, held in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, were staged in Morocco.

The agenda further includes approval of the format and allocation process for the first three editions of the proposed African Nations League, scheduled for 2029, 2031 and 2033.

Despite the project having been abandoned by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, representatives will also discuss FIFA Forward Enterprise, a proposal concerning the privatisation of shares in the 2026 World Cup and the resulting increase in football development funding.

The committee will review the progress and next steps for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations as well, with the group stage due to conclude on Thursday.