AFCON 2025 HAS NOT BEEN POSTPONED, SAYS CAF

The circulating allegations that the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (2025 AFCON) has been postponed have been refuted by the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF).
The 2025 AFCON, which was supposed to take place in Morocco, has been postponed by six months, according to reports that went viral on June 5. This indicates that early 2026 was the anticipated date for the biannual competition.

The FIFA Club World Cup, which was originally planned to take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025, has been expanded. This is the reason behind the rumored postponement.

Although CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba believes it will be too hard on the players to play in the Club World Cup and then return to the 2025 AFCON, this is the window in which the competition should take place. That’s why the African football competition has been moved to the next year, he told the BBC.

“We can play after the Club World Cup, but is it in the best interests of the players who have played the entire season to travel to America to play (and then come to play AFCON immediately after that]?” he said.

“For everyone, scheduling is a nightmare.”

Contrary to the widely circulated rumors, CAF emphasized on its official X page that the competition has not been postponed.

The football authority announced that a meeting will be held to deliberate whether to hold the competition in 2025 or move it to the first half of 2026.

“Reports on AFCON 2025 are untrue. The CAF Executive Committee will meet, deliberate and decide on the AFCON 2025 dates. CAF will thereafter issue an official statement on the matter,” CAF posted on X.

Note that the 2021 AFCON was held in the winter (January to February) of 2022 due to harsh weather conditions in the host country, Cameroon. The same scenario played out during the 2023 edition which was played from January to February 2024 due to the weather conditions in Ivory Coast.

So, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the 2025 AFCON is played in 2026 due to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.