By Milcah Tanimu
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has refuted widespread reports that the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been postponed. On Wednesday, June 5, rumors circulated that the tournament, scheduled to take place in Morocco, had been delayed by six months, pushing it to early 2026.
The speculated reason for this postponement was the scheduling conflict with the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, set to occur in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025. This period coincides with the planned dates for the 2025 AFCON. According to CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba, holding both tournaments so close together would be too demanding on the players, who would finish the Club World Cup and immediately start the AFCON. In a statement to the BBC, he suggested postponing the AFCON to early 2026 might be necessary to alleviate this burden.
Mosengo-Omba remarked, “We can play after the Club World Cup, but is this good for the interests of the players who have played all season and then travel to America to play (and then) immediately come to play AFCON? Scheduling is a nightmare for everybody.”
Despite these statements, CAF has clarified via its official X page that the competition has not been postponed. The organization emphasized that a meeting will be held to discuss the possible rescheduling, and an official statement will follow.
“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.
It’s noteworthy that the AFCON tournaments have faced similar scheduling adjustments in recent years. The 2021 AFCON was held in January and February 2022 due to adverse weather conditions in Cameroon, and the 2023 edition was played from January to February 2024 because of weather concerns in Ivory Coast. Hence, a potential shift of the 2025 AFCON to 2026 due to the Club World Cup would not be unprecedented.