The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will return to its traditional two-year cycle after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee unanimously reversed its decision to stage the continental showpiece every four years.
The decision, announced on Thursday, October 29, marks a significant U-turn from the plan unveiled last year, which would have seen AFCON move to a four-year schedule, with a proposed Africa Nations League taking its place as the continent's biennial competition.
CAF said the reversal followed concerns over how long the proposed replacement competition would take to become financially viable and generate the revenue needed to support the development of African football.
"The African Football Confederation (CAF) Executive Committee today unanimously decided that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will return to taking place every two years," CAF said in a statement.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe said the decision was made in the interests of African football, its 54 member associations and players employed by clubs outside the continent.
"We were also concerned by the several years required before the proposed new Africa Nations League Pan-African competition, (which was supposed to be identical to the current AFCON and take place every two years), could make the substantial financial and football development contributions for African Football and CAF competitions to be globally competitive and self-supporting," Motsepe said.
The return to a biennial schedule could, however, reignite concerns among European clubs and other teams outside Africa, which regularly release key players for international duty during AFCON.
Under the previous arrangement, clubs would have faced losing their African players to the continental tournament once every four years rather than every two years.
The revised calendar also confirms a busy period for African football, particularly for East Africa.
The next AFCON will take place in 2027, jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, before subsequent editions in 2028, 2031 and 2033.
The three-year gap between the 2028 and 2031 tournaments is intended to avoid a clash with the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
"The forthcoming FIFA World Cup will take place in 2030 and in accordance with the FIFA tradition, the final tournament of the AFCON and other Confederations National Teams competitions may not take place during the year of the FIFA World Cup," Motsepe explained.
