The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe has announced that the next Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) would be played in Cote d’Ivoire in 2024 and not 2023 as earlier scheduled. The CAF president said the tournament was initially scheduled for June-July 2023, which is the height of the rainy season in the host country, Cote d’Ivoire.
Motsepe said, “We took a lot of advice and we decided we cannot take the risk. We don’t want to run the risk that our top competition is going to be washed out”.
The Nations Cup is now expected to be held in January and February of 2024 and Motsepe said, “January is not the ideal time because of the European clubs, but it is the only choice we have”.
In 2017, the Federation announced that the tournament would be moved from its usual January-February slot to June-July in an effort to avert repeated disputes with European clubs who are reluctant to release players in the middle of the season.
Similarly, the Federation moved its competition from 2019 to the middle of the year to avoid the country versus club misunderstanding.
