Is 2025 AFCON Feasible? – Here’s What CAF President Motsepe Has To Say

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President, Patrice Motsepe declined to provide confirmation regarding the dates for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled for 2025.

Motsepe spoke earlier during a press conference in Abidjan, where the 2023 AFCON is being held. SportXparte reports that the ongoing AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is concluding this weekend.

However, when asked about the next tournament, CAF chief Motsepe emphasized that the focus for everyone at the moment is on the Ivory Coast tournament.

Traditionally, AFCON is held every two years, but the current edition was postponed by six months due to concerns about the rainy season in West Africa.

However, organizing the next edition in Morocco next year poses several challenges. Holding it in January and February would leave limited time for a qualifying competition, as the FIFA-sanctioned dates in June are already allocated for the qualifiers of the 2026 World Cup.

This week, the Moroccan Football Federation released a statement stating that the tournament would occur in “summer 2025.”

Nevertheless, scheduling the tournament for June and July would result in a conflict with FIFA’s extended Club World Cup, set to occur in North America.

However, postponing it until 2026 might not be feasible, considering that the inaugural 48-team World Cup will also be held in North America during that time.

“There are a lot of competing events at the same time but we are confident that…it is indeed going to be around that time,” Motsepe said when asked if the competition would go ahead in 2025 as planned.

“We have to accommodate other competing competitions (but) the AFCON next year is going to be an immense success and we will make further announcements in due course.”