The South African billionaire who runs African football is reopening the AFCON fight

Patrice Motsepe has not said the four-year plan is dead.

But on Friday 9 October, speaking on the last day of a CAF meeting in Cape Verde, the president of African football said the organisation is "looking at everything, including having the AFCON coming back every two years." Al Jazeera reported his words on 9 October.

That is a big turn. In December, Motsepe announced that the Africa Cup of Nations would move to a four-year cycle.

Now the South African billionaire is reopening the fight.

What did Motsepe actually say about AFCON?

He spoke on the final day of CAF's three-day strategy conference in Cape Verde. He said the matter had been discussed over the previous few days.

He did not say the plan had changed. He said CAF is reappraising it.

Then he turned on the critics. He called it "nonsense, absolute rubbish" that CAF takes orders from either FIFA or UEFA, the European football body.

Motsepe is a FIFA vice-president as well as the head of CAF. The day before, he repeated CAF's "unanimous" support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is under fire.

Photo: Happiraphael / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

How did AFCON end up on a four-year plan in the first place?

For decades, Africa's biggest tournament came round every two years. It started in the late 1950s, when Africa had no guaranteed place at the World Cup. Playing often was meant to help African football grow faster.

The new plan was meant to fit the international calendar run by FIFA. It would put AFCON in line with the World Cup, the Euros and Copa America.

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Daily Maverick reports that Infantino argued back in 2020 that AFCON earns about 20 times less than the Euros. European clubs have also long complained about losing African players every two years.

Many people criticised the change at the Morocco tournament. Some said it served European interests more than African ones.

What is the full AFCON timeline, from the four-year plan to today?

The order of events below comes from the reports we found.

Read that again. In 2021 Motsepe wanted every two years. In December he moved to four. On 9 October he talked about two again.

Why did Motsepe want AFCON every two years in 2021?

Money. Soon after he was elected, he said CAF had made a loss for the past two years. He argued that the tournament had to run every two years to bring in the sponsorship cash, according to reports at the time.

Four years later he argued the opposite. The new plan, he said in announcing it, would earn far more than the two-year one. The reports we read give no figure to prove either side.

That is the puzzle fans keep coming back to. Two opposite plans, both sold as the way to make more money for African football.

Who has pushed back against the four-year plan?

Pitso Mosimane, the South African coach, was one of the loudest. In a News24 column on 21 January, he wrote that he did not agree with the decision.

He argued that a tournament every two years lets host countries and sponsors earn more. He also said hosting often forces countries to build stadiums and training centres faster.

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He used Tanzania as his example, pointing to the better training venues it built after hosting CHAN, the tournament for home-based players. He also disliked CAF's decision to scrap CHAN and compared it to cancelling the COSAFA Cup, where fans first saw players such as Patson Daka and Peter Shalulile.

Photo: Ben Sutherland from Crystal Palace, London, UK / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Motsepe had answered critics earlier in January. He said the idea that CAF runs Africa for Europe was "absolute nonsense."

What is the new African Nations League?

It is meant to fill the years without AFCON, starting in 2029. It copies the idea of the UEFA Nations League and ends with a final and a trophy.

Motsepe says it will make African teams more competitive and bring in more money. The reports we read give no revenue figures.

Football's rulers are fighting over money and rules elsewhere too, as the row over Man City's punishment shows. And for a reminder of why fans care about international football at all, read how Messi's last game for Argentina ended.

What happens to the 2027 tournament?

It goes ahead in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, according to Al Jazeera. French media have reported that building work is behind schedule, and that some CAF members wanted the tournament moved.

Motsepe did not accept that. He said there would be problems and failures, but the host countries would deliver. He pointed to Nelson Mandela's example and said "You have to believe in Africa."

So the next AFCON is still on. What is not clear is how many come after it.

Could AFCON really come back every two years?

Nothing has been announced. Motsepe said CAF is looking at it, and that is all.

What we do know is that the man who announced the change in December now says everything is on the table.

Fans have watched the gap between Africa's biggest football tournaments swing from two years, to four, and now maybe back again. Senegal lifted the last trophy. Nobody can say yet which year the next one will be handed out.