“CAF” opens the door for nominations to host 3 future editions of the “African Nations”

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is looking for countries to host three future editions of the African Cup of Nations finals, after retracting its decision to hold the tournament every four years.

Last month, CAF announced that it was retracting the decision taken by the organization’s Executive Committee last December to hold the tournament every four years instead of two years, a decision that was met with widespread criticism.

CAF is now looking for countries to host three future editions of the tournament in 2028, 2031 and 2033.

CAF sent a letter to the 54 member federations inviting them to submit offers to host one of the three tournaments. Next Tuesday has been set as a deadline for federations to express their desire to run, and December 8 to submit all necessary documents, including government guarantees.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will host the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2027, from June 19 to July 17.

CAF previously confirmed that it had received three offers to host the 2028 tournament from Ethiopia and Morocco, in addition to a joint offer from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The Japan Football Association announced on Friday that his country's national team coach, Hajime Moriyasu, will leave his position next week, shortening his tenure in the wake of the postponement of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Moriyasu, the longest-serving coach of the Japanese national team, was originally scheduled to lead the “Samurai” in the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, in January, before handing over the reins to the current coach of the Olympic team (Under-23 years), Joe Oiwa.

But the Asian Football Confederation announced last week that the tournament would be postponed to December 2027.

This left Moriyasu in a state of uncertainty, as JFA officials refused last week to clarify when he would leave his position.

They said on Friday that Japan's friendly matches in Singapore against Brazil on Saturday and Paraguay next Tuesday will be Moriyasu's last.

The 58-year-old coach took over after the 2018 World Cup. He led Japan to surprise victories over Germany and Spain on their way to a round-of-16 defeat on penalties to Croatia in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He also led Japan to the round of 32 in this year's World Cup in North America, where they lost to Brazil 1-2.

Moriyasu was scheduled to lead the national team in a friendly match in preparation for the Asian Cup against an opponent whose name has not yet been determined in Osaka on December 30. The Japanese Federation said that the match was cancelled.

Its president, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, said in a statement: “We considered this match an important opportunity to strengthen the Japanese national team, and we made comprehensive preparations.”

He added: “But after the postponement of the Asian Cup, and given the national team’s schedule, we decided to cancel the match.”