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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Jonathan Wilson

Africa Cup of Nations clobbered by unwanted Club World Cup

World Cup Cup of Nations Africa a Cup of Nations Club World Cup Issa Hayatou Football Caf Fifa Gianni Infantino
Morocco fans at an Afcon match
Morocco will host the 2025 African Cup of Nations but it will not start until late December with the final taking place at the start of 2026. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

The Confederation of African Football announced on Friday that the 2025 Cup of Nations will kick-off in 2025. Which is something, given neither of the past two Cups of Nations were played in the right year. But it won’t end in 2025, kicking off on 21 December and finishing on 18 January. Yet the truth is, that is probably the least bad option available – and for once it isn’t really Caf’s fault.

This will be the seventh Cup of Nations in a row that has not gone ahead as originally scheduled for a variety of reasons including unrest in Libya, Moroccan panic over an outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, delays in the construction of Cameroonian infrastructure, Covid and the Ivorian rainy season. But this is slightly different.

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