Less than two months after the conclusion of the 2015 African Cup of Nations which saw the Confederation of African Football embroiled in a tedious situation after original hosts, Morocco, withdrew their hosting rights, the continental governing body could be set to, once again, be at loggerheads with hosts of its premier asset.

This time, however, tables have turned around as rather than oppose a rescheduling of the event as they did last year, CAF are proposing the rescheduling of the 2023 African Cup of Nations to accommodate the possibility of a winter World Cup scheduled to be played in November/December 2022.

Last week, reports emerged suggesting that CAF had agreed to shift the dates of the African Cup of Nations as quotes from FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke hinted.

“The African confederation has automatically and I would say nicely agreed that they will not organize in January ’23,” Valcke said. “They will have to postpone the African Cup of Nations to June to avoid that there is a release of the African players for the World Cup and two weeks after for the African Cup. We are all making a number of concessions to make sure that this World Cup can be played, for the players, for the fans, for the media, for whoever is attending the World Cup in the best conditions,” Valcke concluded.

However, Guinea Sports Minister Domani Dore has categorically stated that hosting the tournament in June will not be possible. Dore also hinted that CAF had failed to consult the hosts before making the supposed commitment to FIFA to agree to shift the dates for the 2023 tournament.

“We cannot accommodate the Nations Cup in June, it is the rainy season,” Dore stated. “CAF needs to take care to seek the advice of Guinea that we as a state decide which dates the tournament will be played. We understand the problem around the World Cup and a clash with the Nations Cup. But CAF needs to take care to ask our opinion. In June, we cannot accommodate a Nations Cup tournament. It’s not possible,” he added.

So far, CAF are yet to react to Guinea’s apparent disapproval of a summer World Cup but as the debates around the 2022 World Cup continue to go on, CAF will have to, at some point, make its position clear.