Announced on December 20th<\/span> The tournament, which has been held every other year, will switch to a schedule that aligns with FIFA’s international calendar in 2028.<\/p>\nSome see colonial overtones behind the decision, arguing that it was made with European intentions in mind to the detriment of African interests.<\/p>\n
“Since 1957 (the first edition), Africa has hosted the Africa Cup every two years,” Mali manager Tom St. Fiyette said. “We need to respect Africa. We can’t have big clubs, FIFA, UEFA, Europe deciding what we have to do.”<\/p>\n
Hossam Hassan, for his Egyptian side, criticized CAF for not championing African perspectives and asked who would really benefit from this decision.<\/p>\n
“This seems to be designed for African players based in Europe where European clubs don’t want to release them to the national team,” Hassan said. “So what did they actually work on? They worked on ensuring that the African Cup of Nations was not held every two years.”<\/p>\n
Hassan said he believed African competitions had been adapted “to suit the European situation and to help European teams.”<\/p>\n
“FIFA talks a lot about respect. Respect must apply to all national teams and all people around the world,” Hassan said. \u201cIt is imperative that we respect African football, including the situation of players, fans and national teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morocco coach Walid Reglagui preferred to consider the impact of this decision on African football, saying: “There are good things and there are bad things.”<\/p>\n
Legulagi referred to the problem many teams have in having players released from European clubs to compete in tournaments, suggesting that players are undervalued because they are away every two years.<\/p>\n
“Maybe there is a silver lining. The fact that European clubs know that African players only compete in the African Cup of Nations, which comes every four years, will reward them accordingly. And perhaps they will have more faith in these players because they know they are less likely to lose during the tournament,” said Legulagui, adding that the African Cup is “as strong as the Euros.”<\/p>\n
“AFCON, which happens once every four years, will inevitably become a real event that no one wants to miss. There is interest everywhere. My interest is to see the growth of African football,” said Legulagi.<\/p>\n
Not a single coach was impressed with the idea of \u200b\u200bplaying in the new African Nations League, which Motsepe claimed was the same as playing the Africa Cup every year. The Nations League will not be held during the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
Motsepe was flanked by FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafstr\u00f6m who made the announcement. Grafstr\u00f6m referred to the scheduling issue of the current African Cup, which has been postponed from the summer tournament to avoid conflicts with FIFA’s revised regulations. club world cup<\/span>.<\/p>\nScheduling Africa’s premier domestic tournament has been a consistent challenge. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Guinea, but now it will be held in a West African country. stripped from tournament<\/span> In 2022, CAF determined that adequate infrastructure and facilities were not in place. Every African Cup since 2013 has been postponed due to issues with the original host country.<\/p>\nFrench manager Claude Le Roy, who led Cameroon to victory in 1988 and went on to manage Senegal, Congo and Ghana, spoke of the developmental benefits of holding the Africa Cup every two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was never about Africa,\u201d Le Roy said of the decision. “It’s for FIFA.”<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press on Africa Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/africa-cup-of-nations<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RABAT, Morocco (AP) – The decision to change the African Cup of Nations cycle from two to four years was not well-received among the tournament’s leaders. Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe surprised many with the following statement: Announced on December 20th The tournament, which has been held every other year, will switch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"\n
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