The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will take place between January 13 and February 11, 2024, in Cote d’Ivoire.

By Ayobami Okerinde

The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will take place between January 13 and February 11, 2024, in Cote d’Ivoire.

It’s a tradition to use the year in which a tournament is held in its official designation. But for the upcoming AFCON, you must have seen tags such as AFCON 2023 or Ivory Coast 2023 on social media and other places.

So the question is: why is the AFCON holding in 2024 called AFCON 2023? Let’s dive into it:

Cote d’Ivoire was originally scheduled to host the 2021 edition but was pushed back with Cameroon (scheduled to host the 2019 edition stripped of hosting rights) awarded the 2021 edition. On January 30, 2019, CAF confirmed Cote d’Ivoire as the host of 2023 AFCON.

Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, CAF moved the 2021 AFCON holding in Cameroon for the second time to 2022 while retaining the name 2021 Africa Cup of Nations moniker for sponsorship purposes.

CAF initially announced the 2023 edition would take place from June 23 to July 23, 2023 (a year after the 2021 edition which took place in 2022), but postponed it due to weather conditions in the West African country.

Patrice Motsepe, in an announcement in July 2023, said, “The 2023 Afcon will now be played between January and February 2024,” Mostepe told the media during a press conference in Morocco.

“This is one of the issues we discussed during our congress meeting here in Morocco, and the official dates will be communicated later.

“It is after deliberations we came into the decision, we have partners and even though we make decisions, it is out of respect that we take the advice we are getting that we cannot take a risk [to host the tournament] and so that is why we have made the necessary announcement today [Sunday].

“It is not good for African football to play a tournament that can be washed out, it is not good for Africa and the continent at large, and so we have to postpone it.”

CAF has retained the name AFCON 2023 for sponsorship purposes.

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