The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has announced that the return of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to take place every two years.

The decision follows a CAF Executive meeting on Thursday where the members unanimously reached the decision to return to the two year system.

“The decision by the CAF EXCO that the CAF AFCON should take place every Two Years was based on advancing, protecting and promoting the interest of African Football and CAF’s 54 Member Associations, as well as the interest of African players employed by Football Clubs outside Africa,” said the CAF President, Dr. Patrice Motsepe.

He made it clear that CAF is also concerned by the several years required before the proposed new Africa Nations League Pan-African competition, (which was supposed to be identical to the current AFCON and take place Every Two Years), could make the substantial financial and football development contributions for African Football and CAF competitions to be globally competitive and self-supporting.

“The CAF EXCO decision is in the best interest of African Football and CAF’s 54 Member Associations and will also contribute significantly to the development and growth of football in Africa,” added Dr. Motsepe.

He also made it clear that he is confident the 2027 AFCON to be staged by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be very successful. The subsequent AFCONs thereafter will take place in 2028, 2031 and 2033.

The management of the Council of East and central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) is attending the Annual Zonal Union Tactical Workshop in Cairo, Egypt.

Jean Sseninde, the Interim Executive Director of CECAFA is leading the team at the workshop.

All six Zones are well represented in the workshop organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that started on Tuesday and ends on October 28^th at the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) premises in Giza.

Sarah Mukuna, the CAF Director of Member Associations on Tuesday welcomed all the participants from all Zones to the workshop.

She made it clear that workshop is aligned with the vision of CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe of Making Football in CAF’s 54 Member Associations world-class and self-supporting.

The workshop is focusing mainly on the strategic direction, CAF priorities and Zonal alignment, and also the delivery, implementation and accountability.

The workshop will also develop practical implementation plans for the 2027–2028 period, ensuring that CAF’s strategic priorities are translated into clear objectives, measurable targets and defined accountability.

The programme will be structured around four key pillars:     Football Development, Programmes and Projects for Capacity Building, Administration and competition Management

“We are very happy as a Zone that we are attending this strategic workshop and it will benefit us a lot as we share our best practices and also have the opportunity to learn from other Zones and draw strategic plans for the 2027-2028 period,” says the CECAFA Interim Executive Director Sseninde.

The CECAFA Zone is also represented by Deogratias Meso (Finance Manager), Veronica Lusichi Bwamula (Safeguarding Focal Point and Head of Administration), Yusuf Mossi (Competitions Manager), and Andrew Oryada (Head of Marketing and Communications.

Kenya are the only team from the CECAFA Zone to reach Tier 1 knock stage of the on-going 2026 FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Kenyan team will face Poland on Wednesday in the knock out stage (determines 1-32 places).  After playing five matches Kenya topped Group Z with 11 points.

They defeated Panama 5-1, stopped Chad 3-2 and saw off Malta 6-2. They also settled for 2-2 draws against Niger and North Macedonia.

A win for Kenya on Wednesday will see them face the winner between Colombia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 16.

South Sudan who finished second in Group AD after registering three wins, a draw and one defeat are also through to the knock out round of 32 Tier B where they face Qatar. Tier B will determine the teams that finish in 33-64 positions.

Uganda and Rwanda who finished third in their respective groups will tussle it out in Tier 3 of the knock out stage today to determine teams that finish between 65^th to 96^th positions.

The Ugandan team will face Yemen, while Rwanda take on Vietnam. Tier D of the knock out stage will also see teams from the CECAFA Zone Burundi, Tanzania and Somalia battling to try and secure positions between 97^th to 128^th positions. Burundi will face Togo, while Somalia take o Tanzania.

Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia are the other teams from the CECAFA Zone are the other teams playing in the knock out stage of in the different Tiers.

The inaugural FIFA Under-15 World Cup and Festival uses the eight-a-side system, with two 20-minute halves and unlimited substitutions. FIFA created this competition to give players in this age group more opportunities for international experience and development.

Two more teams from the CECAFA Zone have joined Young Africans SC to qualify for the group stage of the 2026/2027 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Tanzania Premier League side Simba SC defeated 15 de Agosto 3-0 in the return leg of the second preliminary round played on Sunday at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Anicet Oura, Elie Mpanzu and Kelestso Makgalwa netted second half goals to guide Simba SC to victory. The Tanzanian side qualified on a 9-0 goal aggregate.

Sudan’s Al Hilal SC also stopped Sidama Bunna (Ethiopia) 2-0 in a match played at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda.

Ernest Muzolo Sita gave Al Hilal a first half lead, and skipper Mohamed Abdelrahman made it 2-0 at the stroke of half time. The Sudan side qualified on a 4-0 goal aggregate.

Another Sudan side El Merrikh failed to see off Horoya AC on Saturday. After losing the first leg 1-0, the Sudan team won by the same margin, but lost 5-3 on penalty kicks.

Rwanda’s APR FC lost 1-0 away to Zamalek FC (Egypt) in a match played on Saturday. APR FC bowed out on a 2-0 goal aggregate.

South Sudan Premier League reigning champions El Merriekh SC Bentiu also suffered a 4-0 defeat away to Pyramids FC in Cairo on Saturday to bow out on a 5-0 goal aggregate.

The other teams that have qualified to complete the line up of sixteen teams include; Club Africain, Esperance (Egypt), RS Berkane, MAS de Fes (Morocco), Colombe Sportive (Cameroon), FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania), Horoya AC (Guinea), MC Alger (Algeria), Orlando Pirates (South Africa), Petro Atlético (Angola) and Wiliete SC (Angola).

Results for CECAFA teams

Simba SC 3 15 de Agosto 0

Zamalek FC 1 APR FC 0

Pyramids FC 4 El Merriekh SC Bentiu 0

Al Hilal SC 2 Sidama Bunna 0

El Merrikh 1 Horoya AC 0

Young Africans SC 4 CFFA 1

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