The Africa Cup of Nations will return to a two-year schedule after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) abandoned plans to turn its flagship national-team competition into a quadrennial tournament.
CAF’s Executive Committee unanimously approved the reversal on Thursday, less than a year after president Patrice Motsepe announced a major restructuring of the continental football calendar. The decision means the 2027 tournament, to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will be followed by another edition in 2028.
Subsequent competitions are scheduled for 2031 and 2033, with AFCON skipping 2030 to avoid a clash with the FIFA World Cup.
The original proposal, announced in December 2025, envisaged replacing the biennial AFCON with a four-year cycle and introducing an Africa Nations League to provide regular competition between tournaments.
READ: CAF Considering Return to Two-Year AFCON Format, Says Patrice Motsepe
However, CAF has concluded that the proposed Nations League would take too long to generate the financial returns required to support the development of African football and strengthen the organisation’s competitions.
Motsepe had already suggested earlier this month that the governing body was reconsidering the change, following concerns about its potential impact on the continent’s football ecosystem.
“The decision by the CAF Executive Committee to reinstate the organisation of the AFCON every two years aims to advance, protect and promote the interests of African football and the 54 CAF Member Associations, as well as those of African players playing for clubs outside the continent,” Motsepe said.
The CAF president also highlighted the importance of ensuring that the organisation’s competitions become financially sustainable and globally competitive, while protecting opportunities for African players and national associations.
The revised calendar does not, however, establish a strictly alternating two-year schedule. The 2027 and 2028 editions will be followed by a three-year interval before the tournament returns in 2031.
The decision restores AFCON’s traditional position as one of the defining events in African sport, following months of uncertainty over its future.
Motsepe also expressed confidence that Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda would successfully deliver the 2027 tournament, which will be the first time the three East African neighbours jointly host the competition.