Reporter Han Bing reported that in addition to Oceania, the African Cup of Nations is the lowest presence among major intercontinental competitions. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the overall economic development trend, it will be difficult to change for a long time to come.
The biggest problem is the hosting of the event. The Africa Cup of Nations is the largest intercontinental event in Africa, but the African Football Federation has not advocated joint bidding. Ghana and Nigeria hosted the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 2000, and in 2012 it was Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, but it has been hosted by a single country and will hardly be held many times by countries with stronger economies. In the 2019 African Cup of Nations bid, the Non-FOOTBALL Federation rejected the two groups of joint organizers, and the firmness of the attitude was unbelievable. In the past 30 years, the African Cup of Nations has been held twice each in South Africa and Egypt, where the economy is strongest, and Ghana twice (one of which is co-organized with Nigeria), and the two small countries of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, which are seriously deficient in both economy and venue facilities, have been jointly organized and held twice, which is almost unimaginable on other continents.
In 2019, the African Cup of Nations began to expand to 24 teams, but the high frequency of biennial editions made it more difficult to host the tournament. In 2025, the Africa Cup of Nations will be settled in Guinea, a small west African country, and the results are already expected.
UEFA took the lead in creating a new national league to make money, further enhancing its position in world football. Central and North America has already launched its own national leagues on the heels of Europe, and the AFC is also considering following suit. What about Africa? The NON-FA can't even imagine how to organize such an event. Previously, the African Football Federation has launched a local Africa Cup of Nations that only players who play in the African League, but the commercial appeal is too weak to be sustained.
The future of the Africa Cup of Nations is not without whimsical ideas. Wealthy Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have all offered to host the Africa Cup of Nations. Qatar has just hosted the FIFA Arab Cup, which includes 6 African Arab countries, and has ambitions to continue to apply for the African Cup. The reluctant Saudi royal family has gone around Europe to acquire five major league clubs, also eyeing the African Cup of Nations. This cup, Mali will put the pre-match training camp in Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia has also proposed a joint bid with Italy or African countries to host the 2030 World Cup, which is no less enthusiastic than Qatar.
But as Eto'o, Okocha and other African football celebrities have said, the African Cup of Nations is still a grand event representing the African continent, how can it be held outside Africa? But in the long run, the organizational gap between the African Cup of Nations and other continental cups will probably become wider and wider.