The Confederation of African Football (Caf) abandoned a prospective commercial deal worth at least $1bn after deciding to hold the Africa Cup of Nations every four years rather than every two. The decision changed the rights available to bidders and forced Caf to restart its sales process, prolonging the organisation’s lack of a long-term financial agreement.

Caf had been nearing completion of a 2025 tender covering its full competition portfolio, with president Patrice Motsepe referring to progress on a potential eight-year $1bn partnership. On 23 July, it instead opened a new tender limited to the marketing and commercial rights for Afcon tournaments in 2028, 2032 and 2036, with bids due by 24 August. Caf said its executive committee unanimously approved the four-year cycle on 20 December 2025 to align the tournament with the international match calendar.