{"id":115376,"date":"2026-02-14T11:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T11:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115376"},"modified":"2026-02-14T11:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T11:11:12","slug":"africa-cup-of-nations-2027-set-for-june-july-slot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115376","title":{"rendered":"Africa Cup of Nations 2027 set for June-July slot"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 11 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><p>The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will take place in June and July next year, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe has announced.<\/p>\n<p>The South African said reports that the tournament, co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, would be delayed or moved were &#8220;totally unfounded&#8221;.<br \/>\nDoubts have been raised over whether the necessary infrastructure in the three East African countries will be ready in time to stage the finals.<br \/>\nMeanwhile Nicholas Musonye, the chair of Kenya&#8217;s local organising committee, told AFP on Thursday that postponing the tournament until 2028 &#8220;would be good for Kenya&#8221; because the country will be gearing up for a general election in August 2027.<br \/>\n&#8220;The Afcon next year in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is going to be enormously successful,&#8221; Motsepe said.<br \/>\n&#8220;I am enormously confident. There are always challenges.<br \/>\n&#8220;We have to believe in ourselves as Africans and believe in our people. The quality of people we have who lead African football are world class.&#8221;<br \/>\nMotsepe was speaking at a news conference after a meeting of Caf&#8217;s executive committee in Dar es Salaam on Friday, and an inspection of facilities and infrastructure in the three host nations by officials from the continent&#8217;s governing body will run until Tuesday.<br \/>\nCaf made a commitment to host Afcon mid-year from 2019 onwards, but the past three editions have been played in a January-February or December-January slot.<br \/>\nStaging the tournament during the European club season has led to disputes over release dates for players, and Afcon will be held every four years &#8211; instead of biennially &#8211; from 2028.<br \/>\nThe precise dates of the 2027 Afcon will be announced in due course, Motsepe added.<br \/>\nThe Caf president did not give an update on bids to host the 2028 finals, but said he hoped to expand Afcon from 24 to 28 teams in the future.<br \/>\nWafcon still set for Morocco<br \/>\nElsewhere, Motsepe says Caf &#8220;still have an engagement&#8221; with Morocco to host the 2026 Women&#8217;s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), which is scheduled to kick off on 17 March.<br \/>\nEarlier this month South Africa&#8217;s deputy sports minister said her country would step in and stage the finals.<br \/>\nHer comments were later clarified by South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie, who stated that Morocco &#8220;remains the officially designated host&#8221; of Wafcon 2026.<br \/>\n&#8220;Some other countries said &#8216;Please can we host it?&#8217; but they want to change the date,&#8221; Motsepe said.<br \/>\n&#8220;We can&#8217;t change the date because it is a qualifier for the [2027] Women&#8217;s World Cup.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;The Wafcon continues and it will be successful. It has to take place within that window.&#8221;<\/p>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"115376\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                    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              <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/sleepy.svg\" alt=\"Sleepy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sleepy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-4\" post-id=\"115376\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Angry<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-5\" post-id=\"115376\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Surprise<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.graphic.com.gh\/images\/2026\/Feb\/14\/AFCON.jpg\" alt=\"Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 after extra time last month to win the 2025 Afcon title\" width=\"728\" height=\"409\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will take place in June and July next year, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe has announced.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The South African said reports that the tournament, co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, would be delayed or moved were &#8220;totally unfounded&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Doubts have been raised over whether the necessary infrastructure in the three East African countries will be ready in time to stage the finals.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Nicholas Musonye, the chair of Kenya&#8217;s local organising committee, told AFP on Thursday that postponing the tournament until 2028 &#8220;would be good for Kenya&#8221; because the country will be gearing up for a general election in August 2027.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Afcon next year in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is going to be enormously successful,&#8221; Motsepe said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am enormously confident. There are always challenges.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have to believe in ourselves as Africans and believe in our people. The quality of people we have who lead African football are world class.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Motsepe was speaking at a news conference after a meeting of Caf&#8217;s executive committee in Dar es Salaam on Friday, and an inspection of facilities and infrastructure in the three host nations by officials from the continent&#8217;s governing body will run until Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Caf made a commitment to host Afcon mid-year from 2019 onwards, but the past three editions have been played in a January-February or December-January slot.<\/p>\n<p>Staging the tournament during the European club season has led to disputes over release dates for players, and Afcon will be held every four years &#8211; instead of biennially &#8211; from 2028.<\/p>\n<p>The precise dates of the 2027 Afcon will be announced in due course, Motsepe added.<\/p>\n<p>The Caf president did not give an update on bids to host the 2028 finals, but said he hoped to expand Afcon from 24 to 28 teams in the future.<\/p>\n<h3>Wafcon still set for Morocco<\/h3>\n<p>Elsewhere, Motsepe says Caf &#8220;still have an engagement&#8221; with Morocco to host the 2026 Women&#8217;s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), which is scheduled to kick off on 17 March.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month South Africa&#8217;s deputy sports minister said her country would step in and stage the finals.<\/p>\n<p>Her comments were later clarified by South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie, who stated that Morocco &#8220;remains the officially designated host&#8221; of Wafcon 2026.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some other countries said &#8216;Please can we host it?&#8217; but they want to change the date,&#8221; Motsepe said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t change the date because it is a qualifier for the [2027] Women&#8217;s World Cup.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Wafcon continues and it will be successful. It has to take place within that window.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}