Africa’s football governing body is reopening a scheduling fight it looked to have closed last year.

Speaking in Santa Maria, Cape Verde, on Friday at the close of a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Strategy Conference, president Patrice Motsepe said the four-year plan announced in December 2025 is back under internal review.

“We are looking into bringing AFCON back to every two years. That’s under review,” Motsepe told reporters at the executive committee meeting on the island.

The comment cuts against the direction CAF set less than a year ago. On 20 December 2025, the confederation announced that the Africa Cup of Nations would shift from its traditional two-year rhythm to a four-year cycle after the 2028 edition.

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Motsepe framed the review as open rather than decided.

“We have discussed it over the last few days to say we are looking at everything, including having the AFCON coming back every two years,” he said.

A plan that drew pushback

The four-year model drew criticism almost from the day it was announced. The decision attracted protest from African players, coaches and sections of the sporting press, who argued it weakened a continental tradition and reduced opportunities for national teams to compete for the continental trophy.

Others saw the shift as a concession to the interests of major European clubs and the wider international football calendar, which regularly loses African internationals when AFCON clashes with the European season.

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FIFA president Gianni Infantino first floated moving AFCON to a four-year cycle in February 2020. CAF’s eventual alignment with that position fueled accusations that the confederation was bending to pressure from Zurich and from European leagues.

What is actually settled

The next AFCON is unaffected. The 2027 tournament, co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania under the “Pamoja” banner, runs from 19 June to 17 July 2027 and is the first AFCON staged by three countries.

The 2028 edition is also locked in on the old timetable, with any switch taking effect only afterwards. A formal return to a biennial cycle would need to be voted through CAF’s governance channels, and no such vote has been scheduled.

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