CAF Enters Negotiation With Fifa, Morocco And European Clubs Over Afcon 2025 Timing

Confederation of African Football (CAF) is reportedly in negotiation with different stakeholders over the timing of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Morocco.

The flagship African sports event has not been able to get a definite calendar since 2012 when it was shifted to the odd years to avoid clash with the World Cup.

In some instances, not only timing has been the issue, the host countries have had to change as it had happened in the last five editions.Morocco, the next hosts have opted for summer, which was CAF’s initial accepted calendar starting with the 2019 edition which shifted from initial host nation, Cameroon to Egypt.According to information gleaned from Morocco World News, CAF is in discussion with different stakeholders to set a date for the 2025 edition.  Veron Mosengo-Omba, the Secretary General of the  CAF is quoted by  Kenyan sports journalist Eric Njiru on X, formerly Twitter, that Mosengo-Omba informed that discussions are still ongoing between CAF, FIFA, and the European Clubs Association along with Moroccan officials to determine the timing of the competition.

The CAF official explained that they are delaying announcing the date to avoid it potentially coinciding with other significant international competitions, particularly the inaugural edition of the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, which is slated for the summer of 2025 with 32 participating teams.

“In order to see when we have the final [we] need also to meet the players. They need to rest after this competition. So the discussion is still ongoing,” Mosengo-Omba stated. Players who play for the national teams participating in the AFCON also play for FIFA international clubs, posing a challenge in timing to make sure that they can perform in both tournaments.

Patrice Motsepe, President of CAF, echoed Mosengo-Omba’s statement, emphasizing the importance of finding a suitable date to avoid conflicting with major global events.

Motsepe revealed that discussions have taken place with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to address these scheduling concerns.