The Africa Cup of Nations could return to a biennial schedule, just 11 months after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that the tournament would be held every four years from 2028.
A vote is expected at CAF’s ordinary general assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, on 21 November, with the proposed change following comments made by CAF president Patrice Motsepe at a recent football conference in Praia, Cape Verde.
The plan would reverse a decision taken during the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, when CAF announced that its leading competition would move to a four-year cycle from 2028. That decision was made without prior consultation or a formal vote.
The original change was criticised by a significant number of people involved in African football, as well as by supporters. CAF also announced the abolition of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), a tournament for players based in Africa, citing concerns over its profitability.
The prospect of restoring the Africa Cup of Nations to a two-year schedule has received broad support from the presidents of national football federations, according to the report from Praia.
Patrick Sangwa, the Belgian-Congolese manager of Burundi, also backs the change.
“The Africa Cup of Nations is the only genuinely high-level competition in Africa,” he said. “The CHAN has been abolished, so the sporting case for holding it every two years seems obvious. It will give teams such as Burundi, Madagascar, Comoros, Gambia and others that have reached the finals in recent years greater hope of taking part more regularly.”
CAF had originally said that the move to a four-year cycle would be balanced by the creation of an African Nations League, a competition already established in Europe and the CONCACAF region.
The proposal approved by CAF in December 2025 had been attributed in Africa to Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA. Infantino attended the conference in Praia and did not raise any objection to the possible return of a biennial Africa Cup of Nations.
Sangwa, who hopes to lead the Burundi national team, known as the Hirondelles, at the next edition, is among those supporting the tournament on sporting grounds.
There is also a financial motive behind the potential reversal. The Africa Cup of Nations is CAF’s main source of income, and staging it every four years would have forced the organisation to seek additional revenue to avoid losing money.
CAF now appears unwilling to accept that risk. The change would mean the competition returning to the schedule it followed before the decision taken in December 2025, although it still requires approval at the general assembly in Abuja.
