Thunderbolt for African football. At the start of the 2025 African Cup of Nations in Morocco last winter, the African confederation announced the passage of the continental tournament every four years in order to respect the standardization of calendars demanded by Fifa. The next edition in 2027, in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, must be followed by a CAN from the year 2028 to align with the Euro. But this revolution may never see the light of day.
“We are looking to pass the CAN every two years. It is currently being studied”CAF president Patrice Motsepe himself launched on Friday in Cape Verde. The executive committee of the body is working on this new project. To see if the 2028 edition, still unassigned (but announced for a while in Morocco), will be postponed to the following year.
“A CAN every 4 years, economic suicide”
The African Cup of Nations has been held since its creation in 1957! This frequency has thus enabled the development of numerous infrastructures across the four corners of the continent and the CAF announcement created an outcry on December 20. President Motsepe had also mentioned the creation of an African Nations League every two years, on the basis of the current UEFA Nations League.
It is precisely the requested departure of Gianni Infantino from UEFA which would be at the origin of the about-face by African leaders. “Because of the FIFA/UEFA war and also because CAF desperately needs money (a CAN every four years was economic suicide)”explains independent journalist Romain Molina, who takes the opportunity to attack Patrice Motsepe:
“The governance of CAF is a big joke (especially its president)”.
