The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is reviewing its decision to stage the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on a four-year cycle, CAF President Patrice Motsepe said on Friday, stressing that his organisation does not take direction from FIFA or UEFA.
In December last year, Motsepe announced that AFCON would move to a four-year cycle from 2028. The decision aligned the tournament with FIFA's international match calendar and stirred considerable anger at AFCON 2025 in Morocco. Some argued the move was made to please Europe and worked against African interests.
Speaking on Friday, Motsepe rejected accusations that CAF is controlled by world football's governing body or by Europe, calling them "nonsense, complete rubbish." The South African billionaire, who serves as a FIFA vice-president, appeared hurt by the criticism.
"My number one task, my number one responsibility, is to protect, promote and advance the interests of Africa," he said. "There are times when I have to stand firm and say: 'Listen, we are going to fight on this issue.' And there are times when I have to say: 'No.'"
"On AFCON — because this is one of the issues we are discussing — we made a decision as Africa because there were so many issues. But I can assure you that we have been discussing over the past few days to look at every aspect, including returning AFCON to a two-year cycle," Motsepe said. "We are very clear."
He made the remarks on the final day of CAF's three-day strategy conference in Cape Verde. On Thursday, he reaffirmed the "unanimous" support of CAF's 54 members for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is under mounting pressure. Infantino also reminded potential voters of the investments FIFA has made in African football since he took office a decade ago.
Motsepe also insisted that the 2027 Africa Cup will go ahead as planned in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next year, despite recent reports from France that some construction projects are behind schedule and that some CAF members are lobbying to move the tournament.
"You have to believe in Africa. There will be problems, there will be failures, that's fine, but we will be there. That is what Mandela taught us," Motsepe said.
