The CAF could reopen the debate over the future of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), just months after the competition for players based in African domestic leagues was discontinued.

Claude Le Roy, the current Congo-Brazzaville manager, said CAF president Patrice Motsepe was considering bringing the tournament back. Le Roy made the comments during an appearance on RMC’s After Foot, after discussing the competition’s future with Motsepe.

“There is going to be a discussion about bringing it back because it is now the only scouting laboratory for what we might call the second-tier countries in Africa,” Le Roy said.

“It allows people to go into provinces and villages to discover local talent. Removing it was a catastrophe.”

The French coach, who has previously managed Senegal, Cameroon and DR Congo, also criticised the financial reasoning behind the decision, which was confirmed in January.

“It was supposedly because it did not make money. As if everything always has to make money,” he said. “I think CAF, and I am very pleased about this, will reverse those decisions.”

Le Roy said he would support changing the competition’s format rather than simply reinstating it. One option, he suggested, would be to introduce an under-25 age limit to place greater emphasis on player development and the emergence of younger talent.

He also believes his conversation with Motsepe helped influence the CAF president’s position.

“After I intervened, president Motsepe said there would be a genuine review and that he would follow what we, the national team coaches, wanted,” Le Roy said.

However, any decision to restore CHAN would not be solely attributable to Le Roy. Opposition to its removal had already emerged across African football before his comments.

On 16 January, even before the abolition was officially announced, former CAF vice-president Constant Omari warned The Guardian that the reform could damage the development of the game across the continent.

On 20 January, Guinean journalists Lance Koivogui and Mamadou Bah described the tournament’s disappearance as the loss of an important platform for domestic-based players. Several journalists in Gabon subsequently raised concerns that CAF was putting commercial considerations ahead of identifying new talent.

In February, Senegal local team manager Serigne Saliou Dia also strongly condemned the move, calling it a “fatal blow” to local football.

Le Roy has therefore echoed concerns that have been voiced for months by coaches, officials, journalists and other observers in African football. His experience and direct access to decision-makers may have allowed those arguments to reach Motsepe personally, although CAF was already aware of the criticism.

The key question now is whether the reported discussions will lead to action. Having scrapped CHAN on profitability grounds, CAF must decide whether to acknowledge its sporting value and its role in developing African football.