Europe, relax – African football doesn’t revolve around you
This trophy will be up for grabs when 24 countries do battle in the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in a little over a week.
Image: Issouf Sanogo/AFP
For as long as football fans can remember, the Africa Cup of Nations has always taken place during January and February.
Every two years, domestic leagues on the continent go on a prolonged Christmas break, while clubs in Europe bemoan losing their best players at crucial stages of the season.
Premier League giants Liverpool once had their entire season derailed because Sadio Mane was off kicking a ball for his country. This is something that is known all over the world. Every two years, clubs lose their best players because of Afcon.
But in 2017, the Confederation for African Football (CAF) rubber-stamped the move to shift Afcon to the June/July window so that European clubs didn’t throw a strop every two years. The move was widely celebrated in Europe. “Finally, those Africans are falling into line,” was the sentiment.
The 2019 Afcon in Egypt went off without a hitch between 21 June and 19 July. The Riyad Mahrez-led Algeria beat Senegal 1–0 in the final in Cairo. When the tournament ended, players went back to their clubs, and no one complained.
To date, the 2019 Afcon has been the only competition played during June/July. You see, Africa has rain – lots of it. The 2021 and 2023 (played in 2024) competitions in Cameroon and Ivory Coast had to be moved to January in order to avoid their rainy season.
According to meteorological data, the average rainfall in Abidjan over June is 561.8 mm, and in Douala, it’s 354.1 mm. Over 200–300 mm a month is considered very high. That much rain would be unsafe for players and fans and would produce unplayable pitches.
The 2025 competition in Morocco was set to return to the June/July window because, like Egypt, the weather over that period is good for football. Unfortunately, FIFA decided to place the Club World Cup in that slot, forcing CAF to move it once again, this time to December 2025.
So, if European clubs want to point fingers at someone for losing their best players, they should blame FIFA – and the weather.
IOL Sport
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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