Africa Cup of Nations may stay as a biennial event, says CAF chief Motsepe

By The Associated Press. Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026.

Key points

• Motsepe, a South African billionaire who is additionally a vice-president of FIFA, appeared stung by the criticism.
• 1 duty is to protect, promote, and advance the interests of Africa, he remarked.
• He was speaking at the final day of CAF's three-day strategy conference in Cape Verde.
• There will be challenges, there will be failures, fine, but we will be there.

While insisting his organisation did not take orders from FIFA or UEFA, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is reappraising its decision to hold the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) every four years, CAF president Patrice Motsepe declared on Friday.

Motsepe, who last December confirmed the biennial AFCON would switch to a four-year cycle from 2028, stated on Friday that it was "nonsense, absolute rubbish" that CAF was being dictated to by either the world or European governing body.

Meanwhile, the decision at the time, bringing the competition to a schedule that aligned with FIFA's international calendar, rankled plenty of at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, with some saying it was produced with European wishes at heart to the detriment of African interests.

My No. 1 job, my No. 1 duty is to protect, promote, and advance the interests of Africa, he remarked. And there are times when I have to stand firm and say, 'Listen, we're going to fight on this matter.' And there are times when I have to say, 'No.'

"The AFCON – because this is one of the issues we're talking about – we took a decision as Africa because there were lots of issues, but I can guarantee you 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, " Motsepe remarked. "We're very clear."

He was speaking at the final day of CAF's three-day strategy conference in Cape Verde. On Thursday, he reiterated the 54-member body's "unanimous" backing for FIFA's under-fire president Gianni Infantino, and Infantino reminded his potential election voters of investments FIFA has produced for African football since gaining the job 10 years ago.

Motsepe reaffirmed the 2027 Africa Cup will go ahead as planned in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next year, despite recent media reports from France saying construction projects were not going to schedule and some CAF members were pushing to have the tournament moved.

"You have to believe in Africa. There will be challenges, there will be failures, fine, but we will be there. That's what Mandela taught us, " Motsepe remarked.

For now, africa Cup of Nations may stay as a biennial event, says CAF remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.