CAF reviews return to two-year Africa Cup of Nations cycle, Motsepe says

The Confederation of African Football is reconsidering how often it holds the Africa Cup of Nations, president Patrice Motsepe said on Friday, 9 October, at a strategy conference in Cape Verde. A return to a tournament every two years is among the options being discussed. That reopens a decision announced in December to move AFCON to a four-year cycle after its 2028 edition, but CAF has not announced a reversal.

What Motsepe said about AFCON’s two-year cycle

Motsepe told the conference that CAF had discussed the competition’s future over the preceding days. He said the organisation was ‘looking at everything, including having the AFCON coming back every two years’. His words identify a possibility under review, rather than a decision to retain the old schedule. Neither of the two reports of his remarks records an approved replacement calendar.

The comments came on the final day of CAF’s three-day strategy conference in Santa Maria, on Cape Verde’s Sal Island. CAF’s account of the conference says representatives of its 54 member associations took part. Motsepe’s remarks therefore came as the governing body was meeting to discuss African football’s direction, although the published accounts do not say whether member associations voted on AFCON’s timetable.

Why CAF had planned a four-year tournament

In December 2025, Motsepe announced that AFCON would move from its longstanding two-year rhythm to a four-year cycle after the 2028 edition. That remains the announced plan while the new discussion continues. A biennial competition and a four-year competition would give national teams different intervals between editions; CAF has yet to say which timetable it will ultimately adopt.

The proposed switch had drawn criticism at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. Associated Press reported that some critics saw the four-year timetable as serving European interests at Africa’s expense. That dispute forms part of the context for Motsepe’s response, but the reports do not establish that it caused CAF to reopen the schedule question. Motsepe said the original decision had been taken by Africa after considering several issues.

Motsepe rejects claims of FIFA or UEFA pressure

Motsepe rejected suggestions that CAF makes such decisions at the direction of FIFA or UEFA, calling the claim ‘nonsense, absolute rubbish’. He said his principal duty was to ‘protect, promote, and advance the interests of Africa’. Punch reported that he acknowledged the need to work with other football authorities, including those in Europe, where many African players compete. His comments addressed criticism of CAF’s independence; they did not amount to a new competition policy.

CAF’s published account of the conference describes ambitions for football in its 54 member associations to become self-sustaining and for its competitions to be more competitive internationally. That account covers the conference’s second day, before Motsepe’s Friday AFCON remarks. The remarks themselves are reported by Associated Press and Punch. CAF’s conference account does not record a decision on whether AFCON will return to a two-year cycle.

What remains undecided for future tournaments

For national teams and supporters, the immediate distinction is between discussing a change and making one. The four-year plan announced in December has not been formally replaced in the cited accounts. Punch says Motsepe gave no date for a decision and did not explain whether the discussion would produce a formal calendar change. The reports also leave open which issues prompted CAF to revisit its earlier choice.

Motsepe separately reaffirmed, according to Associated Press, that the 2027 AFCON would go ahead as planned in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. His assurance addressed that edition rather than resolving the longer-term scheduling question. CAF’s next announcement on the tournament cycle will need to clarify whether it is keeping the four-year plan or restoring the two-year schedule, and when any decision would take effect.