Patrice Motsepe says the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will announce a decision “very soon” on whether the Africa Cup of Nations should return to a two-year cycle, after a consultation showed widespread support among the organisation’s 54 member associations.

The CAF president was speaking in Doha, Qatar, at the CNN Global Perspectives event, one day after the consultation on the tournament’s future closed. Although Motsepe has not formally confirmed that the plan to stage the competition every four years has been abandoned, his comments suggest the biennial format is now strongly favoured.

“I announced a few weeks ago, in Cape Verde, that we would review this issue. There was broad support for returning to an Africa Cup of Nations every two years, which is something I have always supported,” Motsepe said.

“I have received a lot of correspondence from our member associations about what should happen, namely organising the Africa Cup of Nations every two years. A decision will be made and I am convinced it will be the right one. We will announce it very soon,” he added.

According to SABC Sport, CAF’s acting secretary general Samson Adamu sent a circular to the 54 African federations this week, asking them to choose between a biennial and a four-yearly Africa Cup of Nations. The deadline for submitting their views was Wednesday, 28 October.

The initial responses appear to have been overwhelmingly in favour of retaining the established schedule. That trend had already been reported by Afrik-Foot when CAF announced the consultation.

Pressure over four-year plan

Motsepe’s latest comments come after a difficult period for CAF. On 20 December 2025, shortly before the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, he announced that the competition would move to a four-year cycle after the 2027 and 2028 editions.

The proposal represented a major change for a tournament that has traditionally been held every two years since its creation in 1957. It was met with immediate opposition across the continent, with many observers viewing it as a concession to the interests of FIFA and European clubs.

The change also raised a significant financial question: how would CAF replace the income generated by the Africa Cup of Nations, which is the organisation’s main source of funding for its other competitions?

A proposed African Nations League was intended to help address that issue. However, CAF acknowledged during its recent consultation that a new competition could take several years to produce comparable revenue.

CAF was already considering a reversal by 9 October, a possibility later confirmed by Motsepe during a conference in Cape Verde. The idea of restoring the two-year cycle has also been backed by Herve Renard, the Cote d’Ivoire manager, who recently told Afrik-Foot exclusively that he opposed holding the Africa Cup of Nations every four years.

The biennial format could now be formally restored at CAF’s ordinary general assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, on 21 November. Motsepe’s latest intervention indicates that the reversal may be approved less than a year after the original reform was announced.