The Confederation of African Football has officially announced the cancellation of the African Nations Championship (CHAN).
The decision was confirmed by CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe during a press conference held in Morocco on Saturday, January 17.
Addressing the media, Dr. Motsepe was direct in explaining the reasoning behind the move, describing the competition as financially unsustainable.
He said, “The CHAN is a spectacular money loser. The first thing I was told when I became the President said ‘Kill the CHAN’. We allocated resources to it because of some countries who said it helped them. I can tell you for certain there is no CHAN anymore.”
The CAF President further revealed that the continent’s football calendar will undergo significant changes, with a new competition set to take the place of CHAN.
According to him, “The African Nations League will more than replace that. We will restructure our competitions.”
Dr. Motsepe also touched on CAF’s broader relationship with global football bodies, stressing the need for independence and cooperation rather than division.
“Europe doesn’t dictate the calendar. We also have to stop the nonsense that, these people are enemies of those people,” he shared.
He concluded by reaffirming CAF’s commitment to global collaboration, adding, “We are going to have the best mutually beneficial relationship with Europe, Asia, South America, North America and Rest of the World.”
The announcement marks a significant shift in CAF’s competition structure, bringing an end to a tournament that was created to showcase players active in their domestic leagues across Africa.
