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THE REAL REASON WHY AFCON IS MOVING TO A FOUR YEAR TOURNAMENT CYCLE

CAF is changing AFCON to a four-year cycle starting after 2028. Discover the new annual African Nations League launching in 2029.

The Real Reason Why AFCON Is Moving To A Four Year Tournament Cycle
CAF Confirms Africa Cup Of Nations Moves To Four-Year Cycle Format

The Confederation of African Football said Saturday that the Africa Cup of Nations will now happen every four years instead of every two.

This surprising change was decided at a meeting in Morocco and was announced by CAF president Patrice Motsepe.

Since it started in 1957, the tournament has been held every two years and makes up about 80% of CAF’s money.

The 35th event starts Sunday in Morocco, with the home team playing Comoros.

Motsepe said the next Cup of Nations in 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda will still happen, and there will be another one in 2028. After that, it'll be every four years.

Motsepe said that starting in 2029, there will be an African Nations League every year to make up for the change, just like how Europe does its championship every four years.

He said that the Nations Cup used to be the main source of money, but they will now get money every year.

Motsepe mentioned again that the 2027 Cup of Nations and the 2028 tournament are still on, but from then on, it's every four years.

He said the African Nations League will kick off yearly from 2029, copying Europe's four-year championship model.

He repeated that the Nations Cup was the main money-maker, but now they'll have yearly income.

"It's a cool new setup that will help us be financially stable and line up better with the FIFA schedule," he said.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had suggested the four-year plan before, but CAF turned it down because they needed the money from the tournament.

The timing of AFCON has caused problems because it's often held during the European season, making clubs let go of their African players.

Moving the Cup of Nations to the middle of the year from 2019 was meant to fix this, but the 2022 and 2024 tournaments in Cameroon and Ivory Coast were still at the start of the year.

This year's tournament in Morocco was pushed back six months because FIFA started a new Club World Cup, which was in the US in June and July.

CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH

Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.

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Ronaldo "considering leaving Saudi Arabia" despite signing 2027 contract extension

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.

Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.

Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.

Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.

And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.

N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY

N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?

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Paperwork error halts N’Golo Kante’s transfer to Turkey at final hour

N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.

Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.

Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.

Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.

Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.

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