Patrice Motsepe stood before a Confederation of African Football strategy conference in Cape Verde on Friday and reopened a decision that had angered many across the continent. CAF is reconsidering its plan to move the Africa Cup of Nations on to a four-year cycle, he said.
“We've discussed it over the last few days. We are looking at everything, including having the Afcon coming back every two years. We are very clear, the matter is being reviewed,” Motsepe said.
The review places the tournament’s future alongside a more immediate question for the 64-year-old CAF president: how much authority he retains as he enters the latter part of his final term. Samuel Eto'o has been named among potential rivals for the presidency, though it is unknown whether he is considering a candidacy.
Motsepe announced in December 2025 that the Africa Cup of Nations would move to a four-year cycle after the 2027 and 2028 editions. The change would have broken with a competition held every two years since 1968, apart from a one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 editions.
CAF designed the proposed schedule around a new annual Nations League format described as more lucrative. The plan was also intended to align with FIFA’s international calendar.
At the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, the decision became a source of significant criticism. National associations raised concerns about their teams’ visibility, commercial implications and the place of Africa’s leading competition in the international football calendar. Some attendees said the plan had put European wishes ahead of African interests.
Motsepe rejected the idea that CAF’s rethink was being directed from outside Africa. It was “nonsense, absolute rubbish” to say CAF was being dictated to by FIFA or UEFA, he said.
The schedule dispute has unfolded while Motsepe faces reported pressure within CAF. Reporting on 27 July 2026 said he had lost the support of his Executive Committee and was not expected to complete his term, though the reasons for that reported loss of support and its scale are unknown.
He was re-elected unopposed by acclamation on 12 March 2025 for a four-year term ending in 2029. Motsepe had first become CAF president on 12 March 2021, after the other four candidates withdrew.
At a press conference during the Cape Verde conference, he confirmed that he would leave the presidency when this term ends. In July, he had told reporters in Sandton, Johannesburg: “nobody is going to persuade me to spend more than two terms as CAF president.”
That same month, Motsepe ruled out a run for the FIFA presidency and said he backed its president, Gianni Infantino. Reporting also suggested he had lost Infantino’s support over an affair involving Omar Artan, although the nature and details of that affair are unknown.
Motsepe, who made his fortune in mining, is executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals. He became the first Black African to appear on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires in 2008. His brother-in-law is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In July, Motsepe announced that the Africa Cup of Nations would expand to 28 teams, said the ‘Pamoja 2027’ project would continue, and announced an increase in bonuses for the CAN Féminine. Yet the unresolved question remains whether CAF can reverse the four-year decision before the 2027 tournament, and how national associations will respond to the proposal.
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