The Confederation of African Football, CAF, says it is planning to increase the prize money for the winner of its flagship competition, the Africa Nations Cup, AFCON.
CAF president, Dr Patrice Motsepe disclosed this Tuesday night in Yaounde, Cameroon during the draws for the 2021 AFCON. The present prize money for AFCON champions is $4.5m.
According to the South African-born business mogul, the AFCON is as good as other football competitions around the world and therefore CAF wants to make it “self-sustaining, competitive and exciting”.
” We also want to ensure that in no distant future, an African country wins the FIFA World Cup”, Motsepe said, adding that CAF is already discussing with African governments to increase their budget for football towards achieving this objective.
“We are telling them that when you invest in football, you are investing in our people,” the CAF president said, adding, “we are also encouraging the private sector to invest in football by partnering with CAF”.
Dr Motsepe thanked President Paul Biya and the people of Cameroon for putting up wonderful facilities towards hosting the biennial event, stressing that “people will no longer be calling me to ask if I am sure that Cameroon will be ready to host the 2021 AFCON” which was postponed to January of 2022 because of the fears of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Twenty four countries will be participating in the competition with the Super Eagles, three-time winners, drawn in Group D with Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau.