The Confederation of African Football has reversed its decision to stage the Africa Cup of Nations every four years, restoring the two-year cycle after acknowledging that its proposed replacement competition would need several years to generate the money African football requires.
A statement from CAF on Wednesday said its executive committee "unanimously decided that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will return to taking place every two years" abandoning a change announced in December 2025 that would have moved its flagship tournament to a four-year schedule after the 2028 edition.
According to the statement, the financial viability of the proposed Africa Nations League Pan-African competition was central to the decision. CAF said the tournament, intended to fill the gap between AFCON editions, would need time to produce sufficient revenue to support its competitions and football development.
"The decision by the CAF EXCO that the CAF AFCON should take place every two years was based on advancing, protecting and promoting the interest of African Football and CAF's 54 Member Associations, as well as the interest of African players employed by Football Clubs outside Africa," CAF President Patrice Motsepe said in a statement.
Motsepe had announced a review of the four-year plan at CAF's strategy conference in Cape Verde earlier this month, less than a year after presenting the restructuring as a route to greater financial independence.
The original announcement, made on Dec. 20, 2025, provided for tournaments in 2027 and 2028 before a four-year gap to 2032. An African Nations League was initially announced as an annual competition beginning in 2029 but Motsepe said those plans did not appear to me immediately feasible.
He said: "We were also concerned by the several years required before the proposed new Africa Nations League Pan-African competition, which was supposed to be identical to the current AFCON and take place every two years, could make the substantial financial and football development contributions for African Football and CAF competitions to be globally competitive and self-supporting."
CAF had argued that the changes would ease conflicts between clubs and national teams over the release of African players. In its December announcement, the governing body also linked the restructuring and a proposed $1 billion commercial tender to plans to pay each member association $1 million annually.
But the move drew opposition from coaches and players who questioned its effect on opportunities to compete and the development of football across the continent.
Former Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, who is currently coaching Benin, criticized the proposed interval during the tournament in Morocco in January.
"It is unfortunate that the tournament is held every four years, because AFCON is not the Olympics," Rohr said.
Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly also argued that the tournament's frequency mattered to African football's growth.
"We know that it's really important to have the Afcon every two years for the development of the continent," Koulibaly told BBC Sport Africa.
"For our continent, I think that every two years was amazing. But now, if the decision is like this, we're going to see what the future is going to be."
The opposition was not unanimous. South Africa coach Hugo Broos supported the four-year schedule, arguing that greater separation between AFCON and the World Cup would help qualified African teams prepare for both competitions.
CAF had already begun implementing the change. In July, it invited bids to host the 2028, 2032 and 2036 editions, with the next tournament confirmed for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
That East African tournament remains in place. Motsepe said the subsequent editions would take place in 2028, 2031 and 2033, leaving a three-year gap after 2028 before the restored two-year sequence begins.
"The subsequent AFCONs thereafter will take place in 2028, 2031 and 2033," he said. "The forthcoming FIFA World Cup will take place in 2030 and in accordance with the FIFA tradition, the final tournament of the AFCON and other Confederations National Teams competitions may not take place during the year of the FIFA World Cup."
CAF did not specify what would happen to the existing bids for 2032 and 2036, or whether the proposed Nations League would proceed under a revised format.
"The CAF EXCO decision is in the best interest of African Football and CAF's 54 Member Associations and will also contribute significantly to the development and growth of football in Africa," Motsepe said.