The president of African Football Confederation (CAF), Patrice Motsepe said on Sunday that the next Africa Cup of Nations finals had to be moved to January 2024, opposed to initially planned period between June and July 2023.Serious concerns over the weather in west Africa in mid-year have dictated a change and the host Ivory Coast will keep their privilege but will have six months more to organize the tournament.”We took a lot of advice and we decided we cannot take a risk,” Motsepe told a news conference.”We don’t want to run the risk of that our top competition is going to be washed out.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6483942##It causes more trouble to an already-tight question of African players being stretched between club and national team football. The six-months move will be a nightmare for clubs who rely on their African stars and it reignited complaints from clubs in Europe forced to give up their African players to national duty in mid-season.CAF moved the hosting of its continental championship to mid-year in 2019 to avoid the club versus country tussle for its top players.Motsepe did not answer a question about why it had taken so long for CAF to make the change, given it had been warned of the rainy season when it was announced it would take place in mid-2023.But weather concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic caused the last edition to be played in Cameroon in January. “January is not the best time because the European clubs do not want to release their players but we have no choice,” Motsepe added.Official: CAF President Patrice Motsepe confirms AFCON 2023 will not happen that year; it’s been shifted to January – February 2024. Host country remains Cote d’Ivoire.#JoySports pic.twitter.com/pM4wQC8UpQ— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) July 3, 2022 He hinted that CAF would now be able to postpone qualifying matches scheduled for September to allow its five World Cup finals representatives a chance to organise tougher friendlies against countries from other continents as part of their build-up for Qatar.”We want to do everything possible to help our national teams who are going to Qatar,” Motsepe said.There was also question about the change in format when it comes to the African Champions League.Motsepe refused to give any details about the make up of the new Super League, which he said would not replace Africa’s existing Champions League.An African Super League has been mooted for several years, first proposed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino who insisted it would entice more sponsors to the African game.##NAJAVA_MECA_6487825##The concept has met with a muted response in Africa in contrast to the fervent opposition to a similar proposal in Europe last year, which quickly scuppered the idea.”We are going to have a total revision of all club fixtures for all the competitions,” Motsepe added.He said there would be a launch at the CAF Congress in Arusha, Tanzania in August.
