The Africa Cup of Nations, the continent's premier football tournament, finds itself once again fighting for relevance in a congested global calendar. The 2025 edition, to be hosted by Morocco, has been shunted into a marginal December slot, a move that underscores its struggle for priority against the financial might of European club football and FIFA's expanding competitions.
A Tournament Perennially Out of Place
The scheduling of the Africa Cup of Nations has been chaotic for over a decade. Not since 2012 has the tournament been held as originally planned. A series of issues, from civil wars and health crises to construction delays and weather miscalculations, have forced repeated relocations and postponements. The 2023 tournament in Côte d'Ivoire was itself moved from a summer date when organisers realised playing in the West African rainy season was impractical.
CAF's official policy had been to hold the tournament in the European summer. However, this plan was derailed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino's creation of an extended 32-team Club World Cup, set for summer 2025. With that slot now occupied, Africa was compelled to push its flagship event to a 21 December 2025 start date, a compromise that sees it classified as a 2025 event but played largely in January 2026.
FIFA's Lip Service and the Squeeze on Africa
Despite Infantino's frequent pro-African rhetoric, actions speak louder than words. The reduction of the mandatory player release period for this AFCON from the standard 14 days to just six is seen by many as a clear sign of disregard. Furthermore, Infantino's touted African Super League proposal faded into a one-off event, offering little lasting benefit to the continent's football infrastructure.
The core of the issue is financial. With historically limited World Cup qualification slots, the Cup of Nations has been vital for revenue generation for CAF's member associations. "If Europe objects to the tournament's frequency, when so many Africans play for European clubs, it needs to find some other way to fund the continent's football," the argument goes. The new December-January window is an awkward fix, designed to fall during the winter break of most European leagues, including the Premier League.
Premier League Impact: Who's Missing and Who's Not
While the narrative is bigger than club football, the Premier League will feel the absence of key players. Notably, Arsenal and Chelsea will have no representatives at the tournament. The most affected club could be Sunderland, potentially missing up to seven players, including Democratic Republic of the Congo midfielder Noah Sadiki.
Liverpool will be without Mohamed Salah, though his absence may be less keenly felt than in previous years. Manchester United will lose attacking talent in Amad Diallo (Côte d'Ivoire) and Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon). West Ham faces a double blow, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DRC) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal) both departing.
Other significant losses include Everton's Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal), Crystal Palace's Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal), and Fulham's Alex Iwobi (Nigeria). Some clubs have been spared: the failure of Ghana and the Gambia to qualify means Mohammed Kudus (Tottenham), Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth), and Yankuba Minteh (Brighton) remain available.
The underlying story, however, is not about fixture headaches for Premier League managers. It is a stark illustration of how African football, for all the talk of its growth and potential, continues to be marginalised. As the game's calendar expands due to insatiable financial greed, its most prestigious continental tournament is left scrambling for a niche in which to fit, its significance diluted in the eyes of the sport's dominant powers.
