Connect with us

Sports

CAF Announces New Dates For 2025 AFCON In Morocco

Published

on

Spread the love

The next Africa Cup of Nations will be played in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe said on Friday.

 

 

“I am confident that the CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 will be extremely successful and the best AFCON in the history of this competition,” he said.

 

 

CAF held a virtual executive committee at their headquarters in Cairo on Friday evening after which Motsepe made the announcement.

 

 

Originally scheduled for June and July 2025, the AFCON was moved to avoid a clash with the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 15 to July 13 next year.

 

 

An added challenge for CAF officials was the desire to avoid a clash of dates with the UEFA Champions League in Europe.

 

 

 

Matchday six of the elite European club competition ends on December 11 2025 and matchday seven begins on January 21 2026.

 

 

However, the new dates are sure to upset many Premier League clubs as the Christmas-New Year period is frenetic with teams playing many matches in a short period.

 

 

English media reports have suggested clubs might not release African stars as they are compelled to do so for only one international championship per year and the next World Cup is in 2026.

 

 

CAF could argue that it is the 2025 AFCON, although most of the tournament will be staged the following year.

 

 

Finding suitable dates for the AFCON, a 24-nation tournament won by hosts the Ivory Coast last February, has become increasingly difficult.

 

 

A switch to mid year worked for the 2019 edition in the searing heat of Egypt in so far as it avoided a clash with the European club seasons.

 

 Dramatic profit increase

However, the two subsequent editions, in Cameroon and the Ivory Coast, had to be staged in January and February to avoid the rainy seasons in central and west Africa.

 

 

The qualifying draw for the 2025 AFCON is scheduled for Johannesburg on July 4 with 48 hopefuls to be divided into 12 groups.

 

Morocco will take part to gain competitive match practice, but are guaranteed a place at the 24-team finals as hosts.

 

 

Unlike the four-yearly European Championship, Copa America and Asian Cup, the AFCON is held every two years because it delivers most of the CAF revenue.

 

 

In a recent TV interview, Motsepe said CAF made an $80 million (€75 million) profit from the last AFCON, hosted by the Ivory Coast in January and February this year.

 

 

This was a dramatic increase from previous editions, which produced an average profit of about four million dollars, according to the South African billionaire.

 

 

The 2024 Women’s AFCON (WAFCON) has also been postponed and will now be played in Morocco from July 5-26 next year.

 

 

New dates will also have to be found for the African Nations Championship (CHAN), originally scheduled for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda this year.

 

 

Not even the qualifying draw has been made for a competition restricted to home-based footballers and won by Senegal in Algeria last year, and CAF have not explained the delay.

 

 

There has also been no news from CAF on a second edition of the African Football League (AFL), initially called the African Super League.

 

 

Planned to be a 24-club mini-league and knockout competition featuring the highest ranked clubs in the continent, it debuted last year with just eight sides involved in a three-round affair.

 

 

Were the original format to be introduced, clubs would play between 14 and 21 matches in a continent where air travel presents challenges due to limited direct flights between countries.

 

 

“You can turn the lights off on domestic football if this (AFL) goes ahead,” warned John Comitis, the chairman of top-flight South African club Cape Town City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP

Sports

Iraola: My Fight With Isak Has Never Been About Goals

Published

on

Spread the love

 

Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says Alexander Isak is a “massive” player for him – but adds he “fights” with the player about needing to do more for the “collective”.

 

Isak scored twice in the opening nine minutes in the 2-0 win over Ipswich to take his tally to three for the season – but Iraola hinted the player needs to do more off the ball for the team.

“He’s a massive player for us,” he told Sky Sports. “My demands will not be about the goals: he’s fit, in a good shape and he will produce the numbers.

“But my fights with him are more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations. But it’s good he has played two full games and today a good amount of minutes, scoring the goals.”

Iraola did not reveal which specific areas Isak needs to improve, but it could be interpreted that Iraola wants his striker to do more in the pressing.

“I will demand other things so we can play well,” he said in his post-match press conference about those demands to Isak. “And if we play well, we are in good positions, the goals will come.

“He has to contribute to the collective and when everyone helps, after the goals and results will come.”

Iraola also said to Sky: “Today we were much, much better in our press. We were recovering very high and then we can contact him in good positions.

“If we recover the ball lower, it will be more difficult to find him to have less spaces. So we need more quality effort to put our No 9 in situations like he had today.”

Continue Reading

Sports

‘It’s So Strong’ – Sabalenka Halts Play Over Cannabis Smell

Published

on

Spread the love

 

Aryna Sabalenka briefly halted her US Open match against Kamilla Rakhimova because of a strong smell of cannabis before cruising into the fourth round in New York.

 

Top seed Sabalenka raised the issue after going 3-0 up in the first set against Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova, telling umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that “someone is smoking weed”.

The Belarusian asked the umpire to intervene “because it’s so strong”.

Asderaki-Moore spoke to an official on her radio and made a smoking gesture to someone behind her, before play continued.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka went on to secure a confident 6-3 6-4 victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium as she chases a fifth Grand Slam singles title.

Sabalenka said afterwards she was not sure where the smell of cannabis was coming from but asked fans to be more mindful.

Smoking is not permitted on site at Flushing Meadows but the smell of cannabis sometimes wafts on to court from the nearby Corona Park.

It is legal to smoke it in New York for adults aged 21 and over.

“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best,” Sabalenka said.

“I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium.

“I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”

Sabalenka is not the first player at this year’s US Open to complain about the smell of cannabis at Flushing Meadows.

Britain’s Katie Boulter previously said it was distracting, while Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also noticed the smell.

In past years players including Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have also complained.

Continue Reading

Sports

Onana Gets Twins As Salah Welcomes First Son Weeks After Joining Turkish Team

Published

on

Spread the love

 

Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah has welcomed his third child and first son, named Lail, Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan said after the Turkish club’s third-round league match against Amedspor.

 

Doğan said Salah and his Cameroonian teammate André Onana travelled outside Turkey following the match as their wives were due to give birth.

“After the Amed match, we travelled abroad with Onana and Salah. Onana welcomed twins, while Salah welcomed a baby boy. I congratulate their families and wives,” Doğan was quoted as telling Turkish media.

Salah’s sister, Rabab Salah, later revealed the baby’s name on Instagram, posting a photograph of a baby hat and congratulating her brother on the birth of Lail.

The child is Salah’s first son. The Egyptian star and his wife, Magi, already have two daughters, Makka and Kayan.

Doğan’s comments came after a photograph of Salah and Onana aboard a private jet circulated online, prompting questions among Trabzonspor supporters and local media about the reason for their trip.

The club president said both players had travelled for family reasons following the match.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2026 TheColumn NG