2023 Afcon postponed to 2024

Confederation of African Football president (CAF), Patrice Motsepe [Twitter]

The 34th edition of AFCON initially scheduled for June to July next year in Ivory Coast will take place between January and February 2024 due to heavy rainy conditions during that period in the host nation, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Confederation of African Football president (CAF), Patrice Motsepe in the margins of the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Rabat, confirmed the competition’s postponement was a direct and sole result of the adverse weather conditions in Côte d’Ivoire.

“The decision was also taken after having received further technical opinion from experts on adverse effects of staging the matches in that period,” he said.

Motsepe, however, lauded Ivory Coast for the preparations they have already put in place to stage the tournament.

“I am happy and impressed with the infrastructure put in place by Ivory Coast in readiness for the tournament and I am sure they will host a very good tournament,” Motsepe continued.

The last edition of the Afcon was held in Cameroon where Senegal emerged the winners after defeating Egypt on penalties in the final.

 Originally the tournament was scheduled to be played from April 4 to 25, 2020.

However, Caf announced on March 17, 2020, that the tournament had been postponed to a later date due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since CAF's decided to align itself with European calendars, this is the second time the AFCON is rescheduled at the beginning of the year.