With CAF officially announcing the postponement of the 2024 CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN), the various reasons for this decision has reportedly been revealed.
The body for football on the continent confirmed, on Tuesday, that the tournament set to be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda will take place in August 2025 instead of February.
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However, the draw for the tournament – scheduled for Wednesday, 15 January – will go ahead as originally scheduled.
While CAF cited infrastructure within the host nations not being ready, reports suggest that other reasons may have been a factor in the decision to postpone the tournament.
According to GhanaSoccer.net, having 17 teams compete in the competition, instead of 19 as the confederation had previously announced, has led to complications.
It has further been claimed by the website that one of the primary reasons for the delay was the lack of preparation time that teams would receive, given that some teams including Egypt and Algeria had not participated in the qualifiers.
The Ghana publication claims that delaying the tournament hands teams more time to prepare while also handing the various domestic leagues the opportunity to complete their campaigns without added strain on the players and clubs.
Meanwhile, in an official statement, the body stated that good progress had been made in terms of the host countries' construction and upgrading of stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities.
However, it was revealed that infrastructure experts based in the three host countries advised CAF that more time is required to ensure that the infrastructure and facilities are at the levels necessary for hosting a successful competition.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe said that he was confident that facilities would meet the required standard by the time the competition kicks off in August.
"I would like to express my deep gratitude to President William Ruto of Kenya, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda for their leadership, commitment and the good progress that has been made in building and upgrading the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for hosting a successful CHAN," he said.
"I am impressed with the ongoing construction and renovations of the football infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
"I am confident that the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities will be at the requisite CAF standards for hosting, in August 2025, a very successful CHAN."
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The body stated that the exact date of the competition's commencement will be announced in due course.