New Africa Cup of Nations dates ‘set to wreak havoc on the Premier League’s Christmas period’… with tournament forced to move to accommodate FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup

The Africa Cup of Nations will wreak havoc on the Premier League’s busy Christmas period as tournament organizers plan to hold the competition from December 2025 to coincide with FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup, reports claim.

Ahead of the next edition of AFCON, initially scheduled for July and August 2025, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was forced to reconsider plans due to the revamped 32-team FIFA tournament.

Since the announcement of the tournament’s new format, changes to the Club World Cup have been criticized by global stakeholders, players and coaches, who feel the stacked calendar is becoming impossible to manage in terms of welfare.

With the new FIFA competition set to be held in the US in June and July 2025, CAF – who earlier this month called their situation a ‘scheduling nightmare’ – are considering possible alternatives and are reportedly planning to host the next Africa Cup of Nations between December 2025 and January 2026.

According to the IndependentPremier League chiefs are already believed to be concerned about AFCON’s new proposal as crowds are already high during the busy Christmas period.

FIFA, led by Gianni Infantino, has scheduled the expanded Club World Cup for the summer of 2025, putting a hold on the Confederation of African Football’s original plans to host the tournament.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah would be among the players absent from the Premier League during the busy Christmas schedule should AFCON start in December 2025

While the Premier League continues to stage matches during AFCON, several players such as Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Cameroon’s Andre Onana and Ghana’s Thomas Partey are leaving for international duty. That means clubs are faced with a depleted squad at a worrying crunch point in the season.

The plans, which are currently under negotiation and have not yet been finalized, come in the wake of FIFA’s lawsuit brought by European unions FIFPRO over the revamped Club World Cup and its effect on the overcrowded calendar.

If the new proposals are agreed, AFCON would be sandwiched between the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup the following summer – and could force a relegation change to FIFA’s rules on international call-ups.

FIFA stipulates that clubs cannot release the same player for more than one international finals tournament per year, which would currently force players to choose between the World Cup and AFCON. Both finals would now take place in 2026.