By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (December 20^th 2025)

Preparation Curtailed

Morocco was robbed of the preparation it was entitled to. This, the 35^th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) should have been an exhibition of African organisation. Few, if any African countries have anything like the infrastructures Morocco possesses. Few have delivered the success at international level that the Atlas Lions have. And few would have delivered so successful an AFCON as Morocco if the Kingdom had been allowed to – but it wasn’t. That was not FIFA’s intention, or so it seems.

Morocco was awarded hosting rights in September 2022 after original host Guinea was deemed unfit to host. This already meant that Morocco had limited time to prepare. Its bid was to host in the summer just past, something the top European leagues and UEFA have been pushing for repeatedly for many years.

Europe was set to get the AFCON it wanted, which also coincided with the needs of the hosts. Morocco, like other North-African countries could host at any time of the year. 8 years ago, CAF held a symposium to determine the future of African football – funny how that Symposium and its conclusions are largely ignored. One of the topics was when should AFCON be played – considered by legendary African footballers, including Algeria’s Rabah Madjer, Anthony Baffoe, Kalusha Bwalya and others.

Madjer made an impassioned plea for it to be moved, pointing out that Algeria tended to do badly in the winter since winning it in 1990 when they last hosted. Madjer wanted it moved to the northern hemisphere’s summer. He got his way. That was suggested in the Symposium and if the hosts want that, then it should happen, but many countries cannot host in the summer due to climatic conditions.

Ironically, as we have just seen, Morocco is not really suited to hosting in the winter – the rains have poured, including the flash floods in Safi. So why now?

A Cunning Plan?

There was no choice. Morocco and CAF approved a summer AFCON. It was the logical time to host it – CAF knew it, Morocco knew it. In fact, everyone knew it, but FIFA wanted to impose a four-year tournament and the time it would be hosted too.

FIFA, with support of various confederations agreed to host the revamped Club World Cup in the summer in the USA. That meant that the interest of the 32 clubs, which tended to be the world’s élite clubs, superseded the interests of the rest of football. It is astonishing that nobody objected to this. It was surely far easier to rearrange the calendar of the 32 clubs than it was to rearrange the whole football calendar.

Had that happened Morocco would have hosted its AFCON when it wanted to and when climatic conditions were most suitable. Instead, the rains poured. Instead, players who would have been able to stay with the clubs that paid them during the crucial winter were tied in the usual club versus country row.

Having ruined Morocco’s plans, FIFA continued. AFCON has always enjoyed a reporting period of 15 days. It is essential, especially in flagship tournaments like AFCON that teams have adequate time to prepare. Fifteen years is far from a long time. Clubs get more than that in pre-season and get to work with players during the season. International football is different. Both Asia and Africa have been known to host their international tournament in the winter. That reduces preparation time.

Morocco has established its football credentials – 4^th in Qatar’s World Cup. Funny how the clubs and confederations that are the usual suspects hardly managed a whimper over the dates of that World Cup once a solution – money – was offered. Morocco has built its credentials sine the academy opened its doors in Salé a decade ago. It has produced a talented group of new players and delivered the best performance by an African nation in a FIFA World Cup. The optimum time for Morocco to host was 2025. The Moroccan Royal Football Federation (FRMF) knew this full well. It had planned well.

If the AFON had taken place in the summer, the climate would have been better. Players could have reported early and friendlies could have been arranged. There would have been no problem over availability of players. The quality would have been assured. Was that the real reason that AFCON could not take place in the summer? And why did no club that had been affected by the change of dates of AFCON object.

This was not Morocco’s fault. It was not CAF’s fault, but Africa paid the price. AFCON should have been treated with the respect it deserved and had earned over decades – it wasn’t.