2024 Chan: Kick-off is August 2 as Caf hint at opening match set for Dar

CAF President Patrice Motsepe made a whistle-stop tour of Rabat and Dar es Salaam on Monday and Tuesday, confirming that Caf’s executive met in Rabat on Monday and looked at a detailed update of the Africa Nations Championship (Afcon) besides receiving an update on the progress in the organisation of the Chan tournament.

“The (Caf) executive committee also received an update on the TotalEnergies Caf African Nations Championship... The Competition will now kick-off on Saturday, August 2, and the final will be played on August 30, 2025,” Caf also said in a statement on Tuesday.

Six cities and nine stadiums have been selected for the 2025 Afcon - Africa’s flagship football tournament which will run from December 21 this year to January 18, 2026 - namely Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Marrakech, Fes, and Tangier.

Motsepe arrived in Dar early on Tuesday and also concluded an agreement extending their partnership for a further four years with Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies are the title sponsors of both Afcon and Chan tournaments.

Also in Dar were Kenya’s Chan Local Organising Committee chairman Nicholas Musonye and CEO Myke Rabar who both expressed their delight on the confirmation of the kick-off date, saying it would now make it easier for detailed planning for the competition.

“We have visited Dar’s competition venue, the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, and training grounds for the Chan competition and I must say, as the three nations, we are all set for the competition even if it were to be held in the initial dates in February,” Musonye said.

“It’s now basically working on the finishing touches and promotion,” he added.

Meanwhile, Caf’s renewed deal with TotalEnergies will now see the oil firm sponsor 12 major Caf events and competitions from this year to 2028.

These include the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2024, TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, and TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda 2027, among other tournaments.

TotalEnergies will also continue to promote football for young girls and boys in Africa.

“CAF is excited to continue its partnership with TotalEnergies and its Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné, whom I respect and have known for many years,” Motsepe said at a media event at Dar’s Hyatt Hotel on Tuesday evening.

“This partnership contributes to the development and global competitiveness of Football in the 54 African countries whose Football Federations are Members of CAF. CAF has introduced several projects over the past few years to develop.

“African Football amongst its youth and the African Schools Football Championship, in which approximately 800,000 boys and girls have participated, has been enormously successful.

“The values of governance, ethics, transparency and commitment to the development and growth of our communities and countries in Africa are values that TotalEnergies is also committed to and we are honoured to continue working with TotalEnergies and Patrick Pouyanné.”

Pouyanné, who was also in Dar to attend an international conference on energy graced by over 20 African Heads of State, said his company was happy to support African football “due to its values of diversity, cohesion and unity across Africa, a continent where the company is a historic player.”

“This extension allows the company to keep celebrating African football alongside all its stakeholders, customers and employees, and to share the commitment and passion of millions of Africans,” Pouyanné noted.

The partnership between TotalEnergies and CAF began in 2016 with the French company being sponsor of more than 1,500 matches and title sponsor of the CAF's 10 main championships, three inter-club and seven national competitions, including the prestigious Afcon tournament.

According to the deal signed on Tuesday, between 2025 and 2028, TotalEnergies will sponsor the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Women's Africa Cup of Nations, African Nations Championship, Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations and Futsal Africa Cup of Nations.

Other CAF events flying the TotalEnergies banner will be the Champions League, Confederation Cup, Super Cup alongside the CAF Awards and African Schools Football Championship.

Motsepe fell just short of confirming that Dar will host the opening match of the Chan tournament in August, noting that CAF will announce the fixtures and match dates “soon.”

“I’m here (Dar) for just two hours and came because of the importance of the deal with TotalEnergies… See you soon. The next time I will see you will be here at the opening match of the Chan tournament,” Motsepe told Tanzania Football Federation President Wallace Karia on the sidelines of the partnership renewal announcement.

The Chan tournament was initially set to kick off this weekend (February 1) across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but CAF postponed the tournament to August to allow the host nations more time to prepare.

Kenya has been drawn on Group ‘A’ alongside Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia and Angola.