With less than a month to kick off, AFCON 2025 preparations have been dramatically reshaped by a controversial FIFA ruling, while the road to AFCON 2027 in East Africa is already being mapped out with warnings, demands and a sense of urgency from within the players’ own ranks.
From Morocco to Nairobi, Pretoria to Luanda, a common theme is emerging. Coaches, legends and active players are raising their voices, insisting that Africa’s premier football competition deserves more respect, better planning and stronger unity, both on and off the pitch.
How a FIFA decision changed AFCON 2025 in a single sentence
For months, African coaches had been sketching out training camps, friendly matches and tactical plans built on a simple assumption. As per long-standing regulations, clubs would release players at least two weeks before the start of a major continental tournament.
Then FIFA dropped a bombshell. After consultations with CAF and other stakeholders, the Bureau of the Council confirmed that clubs are only obliged to release African internationals from December 15, just seven days before AFCON 2025 begins in Morocco on December 21. Suddenly, finely tuned plans turned into scrambled schedules and emergency phone calls.
Angola coach Patrice Beaumelle captured the frustration bluntly. He revealed that they had been preparing a camp in the Algarve region in southern Portugal, travelling, scouting venues and planning sessions for over a month, only to see the foundation of that work shaken. “We wanted to start the camp on December 8,” he lamented, before admitting that with a December 18 arrival in Morocco ahead of a December 22 match, “we can no longer call it a training camp.”
Gabon coach Thierry Mouyouma felt similar pain. His team had lined up two friendlies, one on December 14 and another on December 18. Now, he explained, they will likely only manage a single warm up tie, against an opponent yet to be confirmed. For many of the 24 participating nations, the meticulous planning that should define elite competition has been replaced by compromise.
Doctor Khumalo and Patrice Beaumelle question respect for African football
The anger is not just about logistics. It is about respect, about whether African football is treated as an equal partner on the global stage. Veteran Mali coach Tom Saintfiet has already suggested that the shortened window shows that European clubs were given priority. Angola’s Beaumelle echoed that sentiment, speaking of the exhaustion of trying to prepare, only to see external decisions move the goalposts.
Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo went further, insisting that CAF itself should have taken a stronger stance in defence of AFCON. Speaking on Soccerzone, he argued that while many might be tempted to blame FIFA, the real responsibility lay closer to home. If European clubs approached CAF, he said, the African body should have stood firm and demanded that players be released at least two or three weeks in advance, because, as he put it, “what is the coach doing with seven days.”
It was an impassioned plea for CAF to protect its own crown jewel, to ensure that AFCON is not treated as an afterthought squeezed in around European calendars. “We understand that the bulk of players are coming from Europe,” Khumalo said, “but we also have our own tournament that they need to respect.” In his words, AFCON should never feel like a competition that simply has to fit into gaps left open by others.
South Africa find a silver lining in a chaotic AFCON 2025 build up
Ironically, in the midst of the frustration, one team appears to gain a real competitive advantage from the same ruling that has angered so many. South Africa, semifinalists at AFCON 2023 and quietly seen as possible dark horses in Morocco, are one of the few sides whose preparations are not at the mercy of European clubs.
Coach Hugo Broos has named a 25 man Bafana Bafana squad that includes just eight foreign based players, with 17 drawn from the domestic Premier Soccer League. As a result, South Africa have been able to gather the bulk of their squad early at the Tuks High Performance Centre in Pretoria, beginning a structured camp while many rivals are still waiting for key figures to be released.
The plan is clear. Broos’ men will train together in Pretoria, then play a friendly against Ghana on December 16, before flying to Morocco the following day. By the time other nations are hurriedly incorporating late arriving stars, Bafana Bafana should already have sharpened their fitness, tactical shape and team chemistry. In a congested tournament where every small edge matters, that could prove decisive.
Even Doctor Khumalo, fiercely critical of CAF, admitted this potential upside. “Maybe on the other hand, it is good for Bafana because 90 percent are local,” he said, underlining a rare situation where domestic focused squad building brings tangible benefits against continental heavyweights.
Group B challenge for Bafana Bafana in Morocco
None of this means South Africa will have it easy. Their AFCON 2025 group is as unforgiving as any in the draw, featuring Egypt, Angola and Zimbabwe. Broos and his players have set a clear target, at least a semifinal, building on the momentum of their third place finish in 2023. To achieve that, they will have to blend that early preparation advantage with ruthless consistency.
They open their campaign against Angola on December 22, a match that now carries added narrative weight. Angola are one of the sides most disrupted by the FIFA decision, forced to tear up their Algarve training camp plans. South Africa, by contrast, will have already enjoyed days of high performance work in Pretoria and a valuable run out against Ghana. It is a rare example of administrative decisions off the pitch directly tilting the playing field on it.
Egypt, with their star names drawn from European and domestic giants, may arrive in Morocco with less time to gel, particularly for those flying in from busy club schedules. Zimbabwe face similar challenges. Against this backdrop, Bafana Bafana’s ability to train early, manage workloads and refine systems could see them start faster than most.
Benni McCarthy calls for brotherhood amid South Africa and Nigeria tensions
As AFCON 2025 draws attention to football politics and power, another storyline has quietly revealed the emotional undercurrent of African rivalry. Former Bafana Bafana striker and current Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has spoken with clear discomfort about what he describes as an “unwanted rivalry” between his native South Africa and Nigeria.
In recent years, relations between fans of the two nations have grown increasingly tense, a trend that intensified during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers when they shared a group. South Africa were stung when FIFA docked them three points for fielding an ineligible player, a matter that was only addressed after six months. Many South Africans felt Nigeria had a hand in the process, even if that has not been substantiated within the available information.
Ironically, it was Nigeria who later gave South Africa the helping hand they desperately needed. By beating Benin, the Super Eagles opened the door for Bafana Bafana to qualify directly for the World Cup, while Nigeria themselves slipped into the playoffs. Instead of gratitude, however, parts of the South African public, and even Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, openly expressed a desire to see Nigeria knocked out. When that eventually happened in the African playoff final, there were celebrations in Mzansi that left McCarthy deeply puzzled.
“We used to be very close. We used to be supportive,” he told Sporty TV, before making a plea that cut to the heart of African football culture. For him, rivalry should burn fiercely for ninety minutes, then give way to handshakes, shirtswaps and shared pride. “I support everything Africa,” he said. “I am South African but if I see anything African, I support.”
McCarthy’s message is timely. As AFCON 2025 unfolds and AFCON 2027 looms, the continent needs both competition and camaraderie, intensity on the field and solidarity off it. In his eyes, Nigeria’s win over Benin was not just a result, it was an act that “opened the door for us to walk through and qualify for the World Cup.” That, he suggested, should have been a moment of mutual respect, not a trigger for schadenfreude when Nigeria later stumbled.
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Kenya’s Collins Sichenje sounds the alarm for AFCON 2027
While Morocco braces for a compressed and controversial AFCON 2025, another story is unfolding quietly but urgently in East Africa. Kenya, along with co hosts Uganda and Tanzania, will welcome the continent for AFCON 2027. For Harambee Stars defender Collins Sichenje, the countdown has already begun, and he wants everyone in Kenyan football to feel the clock ticking.
Sichenje, a central defender with FK Vojvodina and a key figure in Benni McCarthy’s Harambee Stars squad, has delivered a detailed and unsparing assessment of what it will take for Kenya to be more than just a warm host. Speaking to The Star, he insisted that AFCON success begins “long before a ball is kicked” and that organisation, defensive intelligence and game management will be the true currencies of 2027.
“AFCON is not chaos,” he repeated, drawing a line between tournaments where teams arrive with a clear identity and those where improvisation reigns. In his view, Kenya must develop “automatisms, patterns of play we can rely on under pressure,” instead of drifting from one tactical idea to another. It is a call for a recognisable footballing identity, not just a temporary game plan drawn up for a single opponent.
Building structures not just a starting eleven for Harambee Stars
Sichenje’s demands go beyond formation boards and training cones. He is asking for structures, not just teams, for a football ecosystem that can withstand injuries, suspensions and tactical shifts without collapsing. “You cannot go into AFCON relying on one team sheet,” he argued. At that level, depth is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
In practical terms, that means Kenya must use every FIFA window to test combinations, integrate new talent and build a genuine group, not just a fixed line up. It is a philosophy rooted in his own journey, from Green Commandos to the national team call up in 2020 and a senior debut against South Sudan in March 2021. For him, professional preparation is non negotiable. “Training must be structured. Analysis must be detailed. Recovery must be professional,” he explained. Any hint of a “casual side” mentality is, in his opinion, incompatible with professional results.
His words are sharpened by recent scars. Kenya’s heavy 8-0 defeat to Senegal sparked intense debate about whether Harambee Stars are truly ready to compete with Africa’s elite. Sichenje acknowledges the pain of that loss but refuses to allow it to define the future. “The past is painful, yes, but it is not our future,” he said. “AFCON 2027 will not judge us by old wounds. It will judge us by our preparation.”
Unity, vision and urgency in Kenya’s AFCON 2027 mission
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Sichenje’s message is where he directs it. He is not speaking only to his fellow players. His warning is aimed equally at the Football Kenya Federation, at Benni McCarthy and his technical staff, and at all the decision makers who can shape the next two years.
“Players, federation, and coaches must share one vision,” he insisted. In his experience, scattered leadership leads inevitably to a scattered team. Shared clarity, on the other hand, simplifies the work of building a competitive side. Without that unity, even the best tactical ideas remain just words on a whiteboard.
Sichenje is adamant that time is already short. “2027 sounds far away. It is not. Every FIFA window matters now,” he warned. There is no room, in his view, for Kenya to drift and then try to improvise when AFCON finally arrives on home soil. He frames the entire journey as a test, not only of the team but of the country’s football identity. “This moment is bigger than individual careers,” he said. “It is about how the world perceives Kenya and East African football. AFCON is an inspection. It will test our seriousness.”
Different tournaments, same battle for respect and preparation
Look across these stories and a pattern emerges. In Morocco, coaches like Patrice Beaumelle and legends like Doctor Khumalo are fighting for something simple, the right to prepare properly for Africa’s biggest tournament. In Nairobi, Collins Sichenje is fighting for a different kind of preparation, a long term, structural commitment ahead of AFCON 2027.
In both cases, the message is similar. AFCON cannot be treated as an afterthought, whether by global governing bodies, local federations or the football cultures that surround them. It must be protected, planned for and respected. The stakes are not purely sporting. They are about identity, credibility and how African football sees itself.
In South Africa, that debate is wrapped in a unique twist. The same controversial FIFA ruling that has left Senegal, Angola, DR Congo, Mozambique, Ivory Coast and others scrambling has given Bafana Bafana a potential edge thanks to their strong local core. In Kenya, a defender who once faced the real pressure of an empty dinner table is now asking his country to feel a different kind of pressure, the responsibility of hosting the continent and doing it justice.
From Morocco 2025 to East Africa 2027 what must change
As the ball gets set to roll in Morocco, and as cranes, architects and administrators shape the infrastructure for 2027, three clear priorities emerge from the voices on the inside.
- Protect the preparation window, so that AFCON coaches can build coherent teams rather than cobble together line ups at the last minute,
- Invest in local structures, from leagues to analysis departments, so that squads like Bafana Bafana and Harambee Stars can rely on well drilled, locally based cores,
- Foster unity and respect, whether in the relationship between CAF and FIFA, between federations and players, or even between rival nations like South Africa and Nigeria.
None of this is romanticism. It is rooted in practical realities. Better preparation leads to higher quality football, which in turn brings bigger audiences and stronger bargaining power in global negotiations. Stronger local structures reduce overdependence on late arriving European based stars. Unity, finally, allows African voices to speak with greater weight when decisions are made in Zurich or Cairo.
AFCON 2025 and AFCON 2027 will unfold in different countries, under different circumstances, but they are bound together by a shared question. Is African football ready to demand the time, respect and organisation its talent deserves. On pitches from Casablanca to Nairobi, coaches, players and legends have already given their answer. Now it is up to federations and governing bodies to match those words with action.
