CAF reopens debate over returning Africa Cup of Nations to two-year cycle

The Confederation of African Football is reconsidering its decision to stage the Africa Cup of Nations every four years, with a return to a biennial tournament among the key issues discussed by Africa’s 54 member associations.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe confirmed the discussions during the CAF Strategy Conference, saying the confederation was reviewing the possibility of restoring the previous schedule.

CAF decided in December last year that the AFCON would move from a two-year cycle to a four-year cycle after the 2028 edition. However, the issue was raised again at a meeting of the member associations yesterday, according to information heard by SABC Sport.

“The AFCON, we took a decision as Africa because there were a lot of issues but I can guarantee you, we’ve discussed it over the last few days. We are looking at everything including having the AFCON coming back every two years,” Motsepe said.

He added: “We are very clear, there are also some discussions and all sorts of promises and when we looked at it at the time, we said wow, this is interesting but always knew.”

The renewed debate has been linked to reports of a dispute involving FIFA and UEFA over the AFCON’s future format. SABC Sport understands that FIFA is not entirely satisfied with CAF’s decision to move to a four-year schedule.

At the same time, the matter has highlighted CAF’s independence in determining what it believes is in the interests of African football.

Motsepe was asked what had changed since the decision was taken 10 months ago to alter the tournament’s frequency.

“We took proper advice and the decision was taken because taking all of the facts and information into account at the time was the right thing to do and it was also gonna have significant benefit because there was a significant issue that we were looking at with one of our major sponsors,” he said.

Motsepe acknowledged that CAF had long been uneasy about leaving four years between editions of its main men’s international tournament.

“We always had discomfort with a four year gap and that’s why if you recall, we initially said the African Nations League was gonna be identical to the AFCON, it was indeed the solution,” he said.

Under that proposal, the existing AFCON would continue to be played every two years, while CAF explored staging a 28-team AFCON every four years.

That plan faced opposition from several member associations, who warned that an expanded tournament could prevent many countries from qualifying.

“So, you were gonna have the current AFCON as we have it every two years and every four years there was gonna be, we were exploring a 28 team AFCON and of course many of the member associations came back and said, president Motsepe, if you are going to have 28 national teams at an AFCON, many of us will not qualify and it goes against this principle that you’ve emphasised about having every zone hosting the World Cup,” he said.