African football is set for a major shake-up with the introduction of the African Nations League, a new annual competition scheduled to begin in 2029.

The the African Nations League is expected to become a central feature of the continent’s football calendar and a fresh commercial pillar for the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The announcement was made by CAF president Patrice Motsepe, who described the competition as a landmark step designed to bring Africa’s best players home every year and maintain a consistent flow of high-profile matches across the continent.

From 2029, all 54 CAF member associations will take part in the African Nations League. The teams will be divided into four geographical zones, with six nations in the Northern zone and 16 nations each in the Eastern, Western, and Central and Southern zones.

Matches will be staged annually in September and October, before the champions from each zone advance to a final series in November to determine the overall continental winner.

Motsepe said the tournament would effectively deliver the excitement of a major championship every year. “The African Nations League will be the equivalent of an AFCON every year,” he said. The competition will be organised in partnership with FIFA, a move CAF believes will help attract elite sponsors and elevate the global profile of African international football.

“Every year in Africa, the best African players who play in Europe will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe added. “Every year we will have a competition with 54 African nations with all the best players coming here to play.

“We are going to have a world-class competition every year.”

Naija News reports that the creation of the African Nations League is closely linked to CAF’s decision to overhaul the scheduling of its flagship tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

AFCON will move from its long-standing two-year cycle to a four-year format starting from 2028, aligning it with other major continental championships around the world.

The change was confirmed in Morocco ahead of the opening match of the 35th edition of AFCON, where hosts Morocco were set to face Comoros.

With AFCON becoming less frequent, CAF sees the African Nations League as the solution to keeping international football visible, competitive and commercially attractive every year.

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The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will switch from its long-standing two-year cycle to a four-year format from 2028, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed.

The announcement was made in Morocco by CAF president Patrice Motsepe ahead of the opening match of the 35th edition of the competition, with hosts Morocco set to face Comoros. AFCON, first staged in 1957, is CAF’s flagship event and accounts for an estimated 80 percent of the confederation’s revenue.

Motsepe said the 2027 finals, due to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will go ahead as planned and will be followed by another edition in 2028. From that point, however, the tournament will be staged every four years.

“Historically the Nations Cup was the prime resource for us but now we will get financial resources every year,” Motsepe said. “It is an exciting new structure which will contribute to sustainable financial independence and ensure more synchronisation with the FIFA calendar.”

The idea of reducing AFCON’s frequency had previously been floated by Gianni Infantino, but CAF had resisted because of its heavy reliance on tournament revenues.

Motsepe confirmed that the latest decision was taken after discussions with Infantino and FIFA’s general secretary, Mattias Grafstrom, acknowledging that compromise was unavoidable.

“We have the most exciting new structure for African football,” Motsepe said. “I do what is in the interests of Africa. The global calendar has to be significantly more synchronised and harmonised.”

AFCON’s scheduling has long been a source of tension, particularly with European clubs, as the tournament has often taken place midway through the domestic season. Although CAF resolved in 2019 to move the competition to a June and July window, circumstances have repeatedly intervened.

The 2022 tournament in Cameroon and the 2024 edition in Côte d’Ivoire were both staged at the start of the year because of weather concerns and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup, held in the United States in June and July, forced CAF to adjust its plans again.

As a result, this year’s finals in Morocco have been shifted back by six months and will run over Christmas and the New Year for the first time, with the final scheduled for 18 January.

Alongside the structural changes, Caf has also increased the prize money for AFCON winners from 7 million dollars to 10 million dollars.

The dates for the 2027 finals in East Africa are yet to be confirmed, while the hosts of the 2028 edition have not been announced.

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Canadian rapper Drake has reportedly lost ₦296 million after betting on Jake Paul to defeat former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in their much-talked-about boxing fight in Miami.

It was reports that the fight took place in the early hours of Saturday, December 21, in the United States, where Anthony Joshua showed clear control from start to finish.

The experienced boxer overpowered Jake Paul and ended the fight with a knockout in the sixth round.

Joshua’s skill and ring awareness made the difference as he sent Paul to the canvas twice in the fifth round.

He followed up with heavy punches in the next round, forcing the referee to stop the contest after Paul failed to recover.

Before the fight, Drake had publicly revealed that he placed a $200,000 bet on Jake Paul through his Instagram page, showing confidence in the YouTuber-turned-boxer ahead of the clash.

He wrote: “Jakeyyyyy boy, lock tf in”

If Paul had won the fight, the rapper was expected to walk away with over $1.6 million, which is more than ₦2 billion.

With Joshua’s victory, Drake’s wager ended in another loss, adding to his long list of unsuccessful sports bets.

Earlier this year, the rapper also reportedly lost ₦451 million after staking money on Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner at the US Open.

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