Afcon to be held every four years from 2028

Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football, has announced that the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will take place every four years starting in 2028.

Since 1968, the tournament has been held every two years, with the 2012 and 2013 editions taking one year apart.

After the 2027 Afcon in East Africa and the 2028 edition, it will move to a four-year cycle.

Instead, Motsepe has suggested that an African Nations League will be established every year starting in 2029.

According to Motsepe, “we have the most exciting new structure for African football.”

Caf has increased the prize money awarded to Afcon winners from $7,500 (£5,2 million) to $10,500 (£7,500).

Motsepe made the surprise announcement about Afcon’s future shortly before the 2025 finals in Rabat on Sunday at a meeting of the Caf executive committee in Morocco.

The football calendar has been plagued by Afcon’s biennial hosting for years, with the majority of recent competitions taking place midway through the European club season.

Caf had established a new strategy for Afcon in Egypt in the year that it would hold in a June-July slot starting in 2019.

However, the 2021 and 2023 editions in Cameroon and Ivory Coast, respectively, were staged in January and February due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the weather conditions in the host countries in West Africa.

Caf was forced to choose mid-season dates once more because FIFA’s 32-team Club World Cup was being held in June and July this year.

This year’s Afcon in Morocco will be held for the first time over Christmas and the New Year, with the final taking place on January 18th.

The locations of the 2027 finals in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are yet to be determined, and that will be followed shortly by another Afcon in 2028, where the hosts of that edition have yet to be chosen.

The continent’s biggest tournament will then become a quadrennial competition in the same year as the European Championships.

The African Nations League will be established from 2029 every year in September, October, and November.

All 54 member associates will be divided into four zones, with six coming from the Northern zone and 16 coming from the Eastern, Western, Central, and Southern regions.

The winners of each region’s matches will meet in November, and the winners will then determine the overall standing.

According to Motsepe, the new competition will be “the equivalent of an Afcon every year” and will partner with Fifa to draw in the top-tier sponsors.

The top African players who play in Europe travel with us on the continent each year, Motsepe added.

“Every year, we will host a competition with 54 African countries, with the best players from all over the world.”