CAF president rejects accusation of FIFA influence

RABAT – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) could have done a better job of explaining its decision to move the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) from every two to four years but was standing by it, the organisation’s president Patrice Motsepe said on Jan 17.

The decision

was announced in December and drew heavy criticism

, with several African football personalities alleging it was a measure forced upon Africa by the sport’s world governing body FIFA, whose president Gianni Infantino advocated in 2020 that Afcon be played four-yearly rather than every two years.

Motsepe rejected the assertions of undue influence from Zurich and said the CAF would go ahead with Afcon every four years after 2028, plus introduce an African Nations League in 2029.

“We didn’t do as good a job at CAF in preparing the ground on this Afcon every four years.

“We must make sure that our everyday people, who we account to, must understand what we have done is good for them,” Motsepe told a press conference on the eve of the Jan 18 final between Morocco and Senegal in Rabat which took place after press time.

“This is the right decision. We will indeed have a new competition and it will be enormously successful. African football will be better,” he added.

“We must free ourselves as Africans and have more confidence in ourselves. It should not be about FIFA says this or UEFA says this.

“We can be convinced we are doing the right things, but it is important everyone on the continent is convinced we are doing the right things too. We have to educate our people on the decisions we have taken. We know that in two, three years, people will see what we are talking about.”

The Guardian reported on Jan 16 that several presidents of African football federations were not told about the move before the surprise announcement.

One federation chief, who declined to be named, told the British publication: “The decision was already made. They said it would be discussed in Morocco, but in the end there was no discussion. We’re killing ourselves. If there had been a general assembly and all the presidents were allowed to vote, it would never have passed.”

The reason Africa has held Afcon every two years while other confederations play their championship every four years is because the tournament’s revenue used to provide around 80 per cent of CAF’s budget.

However Motsepe said: “The revenue of the Afcon is significantly less than the revenue we have implemented for the African Nations League. We are absolutely convinced it will work.”

But former CAF vice-president Constant Omari told The Guardian: “First of all, Afcon is the biggest source of income for CAF. Secondly, having Afcon every two years allowed host countries to build real infrastructure that helped the development of football.

“Afcon every two years helped local players stay competitive. With four years, it will be much harder for them – and we will also lose our major source of income.” REUTERS