Afcon move to every four years under review by Caf

What the report says

CAF is reconsidering its plan to stage the Africa Cup of Nations every four years, with the issue now under review after only recently being set out as a change to the tournament calendar. BBC Sport Football reports that CAF president Patrice Motsepe said the federation has discussed the matter at a strategy conference in Cape Verde and is looking again at the possibility of keeping Afcon on a two-year cycle.

The competition has generally been played every two years since 1968, apart from a single one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 editions. CAF had announced in December that it intended to move the event to a four-year schedule after the 2027 tournament in East Africa and a 2028 edition, but that proposal drew criticism from across the continent.

According to BBC Sport Football, national associations raised concerns about how the change could affect the visibility of African teams, the commercial value of the competition and Afcon’s place in the international football calendar. The review leaves open the possibility that the tournament could remain on its long-standing biennial schedule, although no final decision has been announced.

The discussion matters because Afcon is Africa’s leading football competition and any change to its timing would affect broadcasters, sponsors, teams and qualification planning across the continent.