FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proposed changes to African football which could see the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) held every four years instead of every two years.
Infantino made the proposal at a Confederation of African Football (CAF) seminar in Morocco, focusing on the development of football competitions and infrastructure in Africa.
“I propose to organise the Africa Cup of Nations every four years rather than two years,” the Fifa President said.
“[AFCON] generates twenty times less than the Euros. Having [AFCON] every two years, is that good at the commercial level? Has this developed the infrastructure? Think about spending it every four years,” Infantino told delegates in Rabat.
The next AFCON tournament is set to be held in January-February 2021 in Cameroon, reverting back to its original scheduling. The 2019 edition was held in June-July.
Infantino also unveiled a joint Fifa/Caf strategy focused on three key areas.
“We have to develop African solutions to African problems. We have identified three areas for intervention namely refereeing, infrastructure and competitions.
With focus on infrastructure, the FIFA chief announced plans to build stadiums in each African country to boost the continent’s levels of football.
“We are elaborating a proposal to mobilise USD1bn to build at least one top stadium in the countries of each of Fifa and Caf’s 54 member associations,” Infantino said.
“In the countries where there is already at least one very good stadium, the investments can be done in other infrastructures.”
