On the eve of the kick-off of the AFCON 2025 in Morocco, Patrice Motsepe unleashed a real media bomb

The president of the CAF announced a deep structural reform: from 2028, the Africa Cup of Nations will be played after every four years, giving way to a new competition, the League of African Nations.

A seismic wave of announcement by CAF's president whose aftershocks will be felt well beyond the borders of the continent. While Morocco is preparing to celebrate the high moments of African football, the president of the Confederation of African Football, Patrice Motsepe took advantage of the media exposure to redesign the future of tomorrow’s football. The stated objective is to align the African calendar with international standards and optimize the commercial and sporting value of the competitions.

The end of the biannual calendar
Since its creation, the two-year periodicity was the DNA of the AFCON, its strength but also its weakness in the face of European clubs. This era is coming to an end. "The COMPETITION will take place every 4 years after 2028," said the president of the CAF. To ensure this transition, a tighter schedule is planned: after the 2027 edition, an AFCON "bridge" will be organized from 2028, before definitively switching to the quadrennial cycle.

The arrival of the League of African Nations
To fill the gap left by the spacing, CAF is relying on a new format: the League of African Nations. Inspired by the UEFA model, this tournament will start in 2029.