CAF under pressure over WAFCON 2026 uncertainty as South Africa offers to step in

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) says it will “clarify” the status of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) “in the coming days” amid persistent reports that Morocco may be unwilling to host the tournament, which is scheduled to run from March 17 to April 3.CAF communications chief Luxolo September wrote on X: “There has been several discussions for weeks. The matter is receiving urgent and high level attention.”The uncertainty has created a growing operational and commercial headache for a competition that has already triggered national-team activity, with squads in camp and federations incurring costs for pre-tournament preparations, while stakeholders remain unclear on venues, scheduling and tournament delivery.In a separate flashpoint, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie publicly criticised Morocco for allowing doubt to hang over the event 13 days before kick-off, and reiterated South Africa’s willingness to host at short notice.McKenzie said: “If Morocco is ready to host the WAFCON because they had a brilliant AFCON, they should do so. But If they are not ready, we want to tell them, we are not a country with no stadiums, we are not a country with less infrastructure. "We will never be held hostage by countries that have less than what we have. We will not allow women to be treated in such a fashion.”CAF president Patrice Motsepe had previously insisted the 16-team tournament would go ahead in Morocco as planned, also noting that shifting dates would be difficult because WAFCON doubles as a qualifying event for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.However, an ESPN report said CAF had yet to finalise key pre-event steps, including elements of the competition calendar, some venue details, accreditation, match officials and certain operational workshops typically completed well before a major tournament starts.The same report raised concerns about the wider knock-on effects if the competition is postponed or moved at short notice, from additional training-camp spend for federations to the risk of eroding confidence among broadcasters and sponsors investing in the women’s game.CAF expanded WAFCON to 16 teams in November, adding further planning complexity in the build-up to the tournament.Nigeria are the defending champions after defeating Morocco 3-2 in last year’s final.