By Sola Fanawopo
On paper, the new African football calendar unveiled by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is bold, modern, and strategically sound.
A transition to a four-year AFCON cycle after 2028, with the next edition in 2032. The introduction of an annual African Nations League from 2029. A re-engineered interclub calendar aligned with global rhythms.
In my opinion, these are not reckless ideas. In fact, they are long overdue structural corrections designed to insulate African football from decades of external pressure, especially from major European leagues and clubs who have treated AFCON as an inconvenience rather than a continental crown jewel.
From a purely technical standpoint, CAF is right.
And yet, the backlash from elite African coaches, players and even journalists tells us something equally important: Good decisions can still fail if the process that produces them provokes criticism. A journalist even accused Dr Patrice Motsepe’s CAF of running African football for Europeans.
Why the Calendar Logic Is Sound
I think CAF’s objectives are rational and defensible. Aligning African football with the global calendar reduces friction over player releases. A four-year AFCON cycle protects elite players from constant international overload. An annual African Nations League creates consistent, high-level competitive football outside AFCON years, ensuring African fans and broadcasters are not starved of marquee events.
This calendar does something Africa has long needed: it negotiates from strength, not apology.
For the first time, CAF is not reacting to complaints from Europe, it is redesigning its ecosystem to neutralise them.
That matters.
But Football Is Not a Spreadsheet
Where CAF miscalculated is not in the idea, but the method
Football is not governed by calendars alone. It is governed by consent. The criticism from top African journalists, coaches and players has exposed a troubling gap: the people most affected by these changes appear to have been informed, not consulted.
That distinction is everything.
Coaches build careers on preparation cycles that now change fundamentally. Players inherit new physical, mental, and cultural rhythms. Domestic leagues must redesign seasons. Broadcasters and sponsors recalibrate long-term strategies.
When voices at this level react publicly rather than privately, it suggests not resistance to progress, but exclusion from the process.
Stakeholder Sport, Executive Decision
Football is a stakeholder sport by nature. Its legitimacy flows upward, from players, coaches, clubs, leagues, and fans, before it flows downward into governance structures.
When decisions of this magnitude emerge primarily from executive corridors, they risk being seen as technically correct but democratically thin. That is the danger CAF now faces.
Even the most sensible reform will struggle to gain trust if those who execute it daily feel bypassed.
Process Is Not Courtesy, It Is Infrastructure
In modern football governance, consultation is not ceremonial. It is structural. Player unions exist precisely for moments like this. Coaches’ associations exist to stress-test calendars against sporting reality.
Carrying these bodies along does not weaken authority, it strengthens legitimacy. Had CAF convened a visible, continent-wide stakeholder dialogue before unveiling this calendar, today’s conversation would be different. The debate would be about refinement, not resentment.
The Missed Opportunity
CAF had a chance to present this calendar not just as a reform, but as a continental consensus. Africa speaking with one voice to the global game. Instead, the narrative shifted to governance trust.
That is unfortunate, because the reforms themselves deserve serious consideration, not suspicion.
The Bottom Line
CAF’s new calendar is ambitious, intelligent, and strategically aligned with global football realities. It addresses long-standing structural weaknesses and repositions African football with confidence.
But football is not modernised by structure alone.
It is sustained by process, inclusion, and trust.
If CAF wants these reforms to endure, the next step must not be another announcement, but a recalibration of how decisions are made.
Because in African football, as everywhere else, the future is not just about getting the answer right, it is about bringing everyone into the room where the answer is decided.
Sola Fanawopo, Chairman Osun State Football Association
The post AFCON 2025: Why CAF’s new calendar makes sense but its decision-making process may not appeared first on Vanguard News.
