Two major developments have shaken African football this week, as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirms it is reevaluating a controversial planned shift of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) from a biennial to a quadrennial tournament, while West African side Senegal waits for a landmark Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that will decide whether they get to keep the Afcon title they won in January.
Speaking at a CAF strategy gathering hosted in Cape Verde on Friday, CAF President Patrice Motsepe confirmed that the governing body is reopening discussions on the tournament’s future schedule. “We have debated all possible options over the past several days, including reverting Afcon to its traditional every-two-years format,” Motsepe stated. “We are proceeding with a full review, and no decision has been finalized.”
Afcon has been held on a biennial basis since 1968, with only one exception: a one-year delay between the 2012 and 2013 editions that shifted the tournament’s timeline temporarily. The status quo changed in December 2025, when CAF announced that following the 2027 Afcon hosted in East Africa and a standalone 2028 edition, the competition would move to a four-year cycle going forward.
The announcement sparked immediate widespread pushback from across the African football ecosystem. National football associations across the continent raised multiple urgent concerns: they argued a longer gap between tournaments would erode the global visibility of African national teams, damage key commercial revenue streams for the competition and member organizations, and create scheduling conflicts with other major global football events on the international calendar.
Separately, African football remains in limbo over the outcome of January’s Afcon final. Senegal was originally crowned champion of the tournament in January, but the title was later stripped from the side following a legal challenge. Senegal has now filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the entire continent is waiting for the court’s final ruling that will confirm whether Senegal or Morocco will be recognized as the official 2025 Afcon champion.