Afcon to be played in June/July and event to be contested by 24 national teams

Rabat - Dramatic changes to the continent’s top competition on are on the cards after recommendations made at a symposium on the future of the sport on the continent in Morocco on Wednesday.

The African Nations Cup finals is to be expanded and its contentious timing changed but its frequency will remain every two years while the African Champions League and African Confederation Cup will now run from August to May.

Moving the Nations Cup in January ends the club versus country dilemma facing African players based at clubs in Europe.

The tournament is to be moved to June and July when all major leagues are on a break.

It will now have 24 teams‚ almost half the membership of CAF in a bid to increase marketing and TV revenue‚ taking a leaf out of the book of UEFA who did the same with last year’s European Championship in France.

CAF will also demand much stricter hosting standards‚ particularly around the issue of pitches and hotels‚ whose poor quality had drawn heavy criticism at past tournaments.

On the level of the club competitions‚ there is also good news for South African clubs.

This year’s expansion of the number of clubs in the group phase of Champions League and Confederation Cup – from eight to 16 - has meant that the top teams in Africa have been forced to play group matches between May and July when they should be off on holidays and then preparing for their new domestic seasons.

Clubs like Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates have suffered severely in recent years from a lack of rest because of African club commitments and top teams in Egypt‚ Morocco and Tunisia‚ among other countries‚ have also complained and been listened to.

The two competitions will in future run from August to May with preliminary rounds played at the start and the group phase then be followed by the quarter-finals‚ semifinal and finals to be completed by May.

CAF’s executive committee meet in Rabat on Thursday and are expected to formalise all the major recommendations‚ which could come into effect almost immediately

“I think these are all efforts to try and raise the standards in Africa‚" said SAFA president Danny Jordaan at the conclusion on Wednesday afternoon.

"There is a real will now to make sure that the competitions are of the highest quality and that the African football product is regarded in the same light as other major events.”

- TimesLIVE