The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, to be played in Morocco, will now be take place in January 2026.
The tournament will be delayed by six months, as it clashes with the expanded 32-team Club World Cup.
AFCON 2025 was originally scheduled to take place in June, but the Club World Cup is set to be played in the United States from June 15 to July 13.
CAF’s general secretary, Veron Mosengo-Omba, told BBC that the AFCON would now be held in early 2026, acknowledging the pressing issue of scheduling conflicts.
Mosengo-Omba highlighted concerns regarding player welfare, questioning the feasibility of players participating in both the Club World Cup and the AFCON consecutively.
“For the men, we need to make sure that the dates that we’ll be choosing will be in the interests of the players.
“For this, we need to balance different aspects and also discuss with our partners and then we complete [the dates]. Scheduling is a nightmare for everybody,” Mosengo-Omba said.