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CAF Returns to Biennial Africa Cup of Nations Format, Less Than a Year After Abandoning It

The CAF's executive committee voted unanimously on October 29 to restore the Africa Cup of Nations to its traditional biennial schedule, reversing a decision made less than a year earlier. The reversal was driven by financial pressure from the 54 member associations, as the shift to a four-year cycle would have cost the confederation nearly a billion dollars in commercial and broadcasting revenues.

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CAF Returns to Biennial Africa Cup of Nations Format, Less Than a Year After Abandoning It
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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) officially abandoned its four-year Africa Cup of Nations project at its executive committee meeting on October 29, unanimously restoring the tournament’s historic biennial rhythm. The decision comes less than a year after the body announced plans to align the competition with the Euro format, spacing editions every four years starting in 2028.

The reversal is primarily financial. According to internal estimates reported by the press, the shift to a four-year cycle would have deprived the CAF of nearly a billion dollars in commercial and broadcasting revenues. For the 54 member associations, whose budgets depend heavily on dividends redistributed by the Africa Cup of Nations, halving these flows proved unsustainable.

President Patrice Motsepe had initially presented this reform as a way to ease the international calendar and reduce tensions with European clubs reluctant to release their international players during the season. To fill the competitive void between editions, he was considering launching an African Nations League. But the project quickly showed its limitations: generating viable revenues would have taken many years, leaving local federations without sufficient resources in the interim.

Faced with criticism from member associations, the CAF orchestrated this unanimous vote to restore the historic format, demonstrating its commitment to preserving the confederation’s financial autonomy and ensuring direct benefits for local infrastructure development.

The new roadmap is now set. The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from June 19 to July 18, in line with the planned schedule. It will be followed by an edition in 2028, before a three-year break leading to editions in 2031 and 2033. This gap between 2028 and 2031 aims to avoid a direct clash with the 2030 World Cup, a compromise designed to preserve the competition’s media and commercial impact.

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