South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe faces pressure to quit as Africa's football boss

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe is facing growing pressure over his leadership of the Confederation of African Football after reversing a plan to hold the Africa Cup of Nations every four years, with officials across the continent saying they have lost trust in him, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The British newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said several senior figures in African football were positioning themselves to replace Motsepe should he be persuaded to step down before his term ends in 2029. Among them is Samuel Eto'o, the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker who is now president of Cameroon's football federation and a member of CAF's executive committee.

Billionaires.Africa could not find a public response from Motsepe, 64, or from CAF to the Guardian's account of discontent among officials.

The Afcon reversal

The pressure follows a sudden shift on the future of Africa's flagship tournament. In December, Motsepe announced that the Africa Cup of Nations, held roughly every two years since it was first staged in 1957, would be played in 2027 and 2028 and then every four years from 2032. He tied the change to a new annual African Nations League that he said would earn more money for the continent's federations.

That decision drew criticism, with some saying it served European interests, Motsepe acknowledged. On Friday, Oct. 9, at the close of a three-day CAF strategy conference in Cape Verde, Motsepe said the body was "looking at everything, including having the AFCON coming back every two years," according to Al Jazeera. He rejected suggestions that CAF takes orders from FIFA or European football's governing body UEFA as "nonsense, absolute rubbish."

"My No. 1 job, my No. 1 duty is to protect, promote, and advance the interests of Africa," he said.

The Guardian reported that a return to the two-year cycle is expected to be confirmed when CAF's executive committee meets in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, next month, and that most national federation presidents did not know he planned to raise the change at the Cape Verde meeting.

Possible successors

Besides Eto'o, the Guardian named Mauritania's Ahmed Yahya, Ivory Coast's Yacine Idriss Diallo and Djibouti's Souleiman Waberi, a member of FIFA's ruling council, as figures who could seek the job. Waberi has been charged with embezzlement and money laundering, and denies the allegations, the newspaper said.

Under CAF's rules, an extraordinary general assembly can be called after a written request from at least two-thirds of the executive committee, the Guardian reported. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who remains popular among African federations, is seen as having a big say in what happens next, according to the paper.

Motsepe has already said he will not stand for a third term when his current one expires in 2029, the Guardian reported.

Money for federations

The Cape Verde meeting also showed how Motsepe has tried to keep federations on side. CAF is raising its annual payment to each of its 54 member associations to $700,000 from $200,000, Gambian newspaper The Point reported. The Guardian said CAF had also increased fees paid for executive committee meetings and introduced an annual bonus of about $8,000.

At the same meeting on Sal Island, Motsepe led an endorsement of Infantino's bid for re-election as FIFA president, with 52 of Africa's 54 federation presidents in attendance, South African public broadcaster Channel Africa reported. The FIFA vote is scheduled for March in Morocco.

Motsepe, who is also a FIFA vice president, founded African Rainbow Minerals, one of South Africa's largest mining companies, and owns Mamelodi Sundowns, the country's most successful football club of recent years. He was elected unopposed as CAF president in 2021 and returned for a second term in 2025.

He is worth $3.3 billion, according to Forbes.