{"id":66677,"date":"2026-02-11T18:17:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T18:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-tournament-may-be-delayed-until-2028"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:29:31","slug":"afcon-tournament-may-be-delayed-until-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-tournament-may-be-delayed-until-2028","title":{"rendered":"AFCON Tournament May Be Delayed Until 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong> <\/span>The Africa Cup of Nations, one of the continent\u2019s premier sporting events, may be heading for a seismic shift. Reports emerging from the Confederation of African Football suggest serious doubts over whether Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be ready to stage the 2027 tournament on schedule \u2014 a situation that could push the competition back to 2028.<\/p>\n<p>CAF\u2019s Executive Committee is reportedly alarmed by persistent delays in infrastructure development and logistical preparations across the three East African host nations. With a 24-team format spread across ten cities demanding high standards for stadiums, transport links and accommodation, officials fear that the current build-up may fall short of what the competition requires.<\/p>\n<p>In Dar es Salaam on Friday, delegates are set to discuss a proposal that would effectively postpone the event by a year. This conversation is unfolding against the backdrop of CAF\u2019s broader restructuring of its competitions. The federation has already signaled a move to a four-year cycle for the Africa Cup of Nations from 2028, a radical shift from its traditional biennial rhythm and one that would dovetail with any rescheduling.<\/p>\n<p>The concerns come after CAF inspection teams visited Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in recent weeks to assess readiness. Those technical assessments have brought infrastructure gaps into sharp relief, particularly in cities where stadia and training facilities were meant to be finalised.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the uncertainty, reports indicate that Morocco, originally slated to host the 2026 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations may withdraw from that role, creating parallel questions about the women\u2019s game\u2019s flagship event. South Africa has been floated as a potential replacement, though no official confirmation has yet come from CAF or Moroccan authorities.<\/p>\n<p>This debate over AFCON\u2019s timing and hosts highlights deeper tensions within African football: a drive to expand the tournament\u2019s footprint and legacy, balanced against the logistical realities of staging major events across a diverse and developing continent. Whether the 2027 AFCON goes ahead as planned or is deferred until 2028, the decisions made this week in Tanzania will reverberate throughout the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Lesotho<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. The Africa Cup of Nations, one of the continent\u2019s premier sporting events, may be heading for a seismic shift. Reports emerging from the Confederation of African Football suggest serious doubts over whether Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be ready to stage the 2027 tournament on schedule \u2014 a situation that could push [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-66677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AFCON Tournament May Be Delayed Until 2028 - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Lesotho. 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