NAIROBI, Kenya, January 18, 2026 – The Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) will be scrapped because it is a ‘spectacular’ money loser.
Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe says the biennial continental competition does not provide value for money, hence the need to scrap it.
“You see, the Chan is a spectacular money loser. The first thing I was asked when I became president was to kill it. I was going to stop it but some of the member associations who do not have the resources and skills…you know…almost 20 of them said, ‘please keep it in’. That’s why we had to allocate resources and that’s why the Chan we had in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda was enormously successful,” Motsepe said.
CHAN was first held in 2009 in Ivory Coast, with eight teams in contention.
The competition, featuring players who ply their trade in their home countries, has so far featured eight editions — the last one held in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in August last year.
However, the continental governing body late last month announced that the tournament would be scrapped all-together — dealing a death-knell to the hopes of many locally-based players who have used the competition to showcase their talents to a global audience.
In its place is the Africa Nations League, which will be held annually, featuring matches between teams from the same zones.
Motsepe says the new competition will put more money into the game.
“I can tell you now, with this African Nations League, it will take the place. Our
competitions are going to be reviewed and I can tell you now, there will not be a CHAN. You’ve got to have quality competitions. You shouldn’t have too few, you shouldn’t have too many but it’s going to be world class,” he said.
The president was speaking on Saturday, ahead of the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat on Sunday night.
