Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos believes moving the Africa Cup of Nations from a two-year to a four-year cycle is good for football on the continent.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) made the decision recently, and the AFCON will be held every four years from 2028.
However, CAF also confirmed the formation of the new African Nations League to be played annually.
“I think it’s a very good thing that the AFCON will be organized every four years,” says Broos.
“You see what happened now; we had the World Cup qualifiers in June, and now we have the AFCON, and in six months, you have the World Cup.
“For the African teams that have qualified for the World Cup, it’s a little bit different. We had to say, ‘Hey, hey, hold on, we have the AFCON in December’, because we were so occupied with the World Cup. So, I think it’s a very good thing that every team that has qualified for the AFCON can focus only on the AFCON,” adds the Belgian.
“It’s a very good thing that things are a little bit in order now, and maybe this can help the African teams to go further in the World Cup.”
As noted by ESPN, the scheduling of Africa’s premier national competition has been a consistent issue.
The biennial hosting of AFCON has long caused issues with the football calendar, with the vast majority of recent tournaments held midway through the European club season.
Switching the AFCON to a four-year cycle puts it in line with UEFA’s European Championship, the next of which will also be in 2028.
Having no AFCON in 2029 also means it will not clash with the next Club World Cup competition.
