The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2023), which was originally scheduled to take place in Ivory Coast from June 23 to July 23, 2023, has been postponed to January-February 2024. This decision was made at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) chaired by Patrice Motsepe in Rabat in July of 2022.
The president of CAF cited the climate as the main reason for this one-year delay of the competition. Indeed, the heavy rainfall recorded in Côte d’Ivoire during this period made organizing the AFCON during the rainy season impractical.
“We don’t want to take the risk of having a competition under pouring rain. It wouldn’t be good for African football and its image,” explained Patrice Motsepe. The five Ivorian cities planned to host the tournament were Abidjan, Bouaké, Yamoussoukro, Korhogo, and San-Pedro.
The decision was made after extensive consultations, taking into account climate change and various opinions.
Traditionally, the AFCON took place at the beginning of the year, but starting from 2017, it was moved to the summer. The 2019 edition took place in June and July in Egypt, while the following edition in Cameroon was rescheduled multiple times due to requests from the host country and the Covid-19 pandemic. Ultimately, it took place in January and February 2022.
June is historically the rainiest month of the year in Côte d’Ivoire, with an average of around 300 mm of rainfall. Avoiding weather-related issues during the tournament was therefore deemed essential.
Since its creation in 1967, the AFCON used to be held during the winter of each even year. However, in 2013, this was changed to avoid overlapping with the World Cup, shifting to odd years. The postponement of AFCON 2023 to 2024 aligns with this new periodicity.
