January 19 – African football boss Patrice Motsepe has defended the decision to play the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) every four years, denying the switch away from a biennial competition was made to accommodate European interests.
During a heated press conference, the South African mining billionaire and president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) rebuked criticism after CAF announced that the continent’s flagship tournament will no longer be played on a biennial basis from 2028 onwards, moving to a quadrennial schedule like the World Cup and the European Championship.
“It has taken us four years to be where we are,” said Motsepe. “We took a unanimous decision in CAF, 100%. I am the one that had to be convinced over the last three years. The African Super League, we started a pilot with club football and it went well but [the next] did not proceed because the partners that were giving us money did not give us the sort of deals that we would be happy with.”
Motsepe had promised revenue of $200 million from the African Super League but the tournament, conceived as a feeder competition for the Club World Cup, failed to establish a place in the calendar and a second edition didn’t materialise.
The South African however pointed at increased revenue and prize money in both the Champions League and Confederation Cup.
“We are absolutely satisfied. The revenue of the AFCON is significantly less than the revenue we have implemented for the African Nations League. We will be launching it in the next few years. You are talking absolute nonsense when you say that we run Africa for Europe. It’s nonsense. You are insulting us. We run Africa for Africa,” said Motsepe.
“When I became President, member associations have gone from receiving $150,000 to $400,000.”
Minutes earlier, Motsepe had failed to detail the exact costs and revenues of the 2025Africa Cup of Nations.
“We have to free ourselves as Africans and not believe whenever we take a decision, it’s what FIFA says this or Europe says this. It shows lack of confidence in ourselves. Many times FIFA comes with recommendations. We listen, we disagree, it’s not going to happen.”
Motsepe emphasised that his constituents back the launch of the Nations League. CAF announced the new competition in December, but it will mean the end of CHAN, a long-held tournament that brings together national teams selected from home-based players only.
“The CHAN is a spectacular money loser. The first thing I was told when I became the President said ‘Kill the CHAN’. We allocated resources to it because of some countries who said it helped them,” explained Motsepe.
“I can tell you for certain there is no CHAN anymore. The African Nations League will more than replace that. We will restructure our competitions. Europe doesn’t dictate the calendar. We also have to stop the nonsense that, ‘these people are enemies of those people’.
“We are going to have the best mutually beneficial relationship with Europe, Asia, South America, North America and the rest of the world.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1768834508labto1768834508ofdlr1768834508owedi1768834508sni@i1768834508tnuk.1768834508ardni1768834508mas1768834508
Source link
Add Comment