February 21 – Issa Hayatou’s rival in next month’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential election says he intends to totally overhaul the Continent’s financial transparency as he bids to bring to an end to the long autocratic reign of Issa Hayatou.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 20 – The tension ahead of next month’s potentially game-changing Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential election is mounting after South African president Jacob Zuma was reported – apparently wrongly – to have formally given his government’s backing to Issa Hayatou despite the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) executive committee officially endorsing Hayatou’s rival, Madagascar’s Ahmad Ahmad (sic).
By Andrew Warshaw
February 16 – Issa Hayatou’s quest to hang on to power at the helm of African football has taken another jolt with the news that the highly influential Nigerian FA is backing his rival for the leadership.
By Samindra Kunti and Andrew Warshaw
February 14 – Issa Hayatou’s quest to remain African football’s all-powerful figurehead is heading for open warfare after southern African states announced they were backing his rival for the presidency in defiance of their confederation.
February 13 – At least 17 people were killed in a stampede at a football stadium in the northern Angolan city of Uige after crowds blocked the entrances to the stadium for a league match between Santa Rita de Cassia and Recreativo do Libolo.
February 10 – The 2017 Total CAF Champions League kicks off with the preliminary round today. For the first time the tournament will have 16 participants in the group stages.
By Samindra Kunti
February 6 – Cameroon defeated Egypt 2-1 in the final of the African Cup of Nations to win the tournament for a fifth time. Vincent Aboubakar scored the winning goal in the 88th minute.
February 3 – In the latest power play for control of African football, an unsavoury war of words has broken out between two federations presidents over alleged meddling by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
By Samindra Kunti
February 3 – For the third time in history Egypt and Cameroon will meet in the final of the African Cup of Nations. In the semi-finals the two traditional powerhouses of the African game defeated Burkina Faso and Ghana respectively.
By Samindra Kunti
January 25 – Ivory Coast’s title defence came to an end at the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon after a 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the final round of Group C games. In a tournament that has thrown up some unpredictable results, the interest and attendance of fans has been low except for Gabon games, but they have also now exited the tournament.
January 24 – The Confederation of African Football has taken action to protect its website after it was hacked by a Russian group protesting at the African Cup of Nations being staged in Gabon where President Ali Bongo Ondimba retained power in disputed and violent elections last year.
By Samindra Kunti
January 23 – Despite being unbeaten, Gabon became only the fourth hosts in history to exit the Africa Cup of Nations at the group stage – and the first for 23 years – as concerns continue to mount over the state of pitches at Africa’s flagship event.
By Samindra Kent
January 20 – Senegal are the first team to progress to the quarter-finals of the 2017 African Cup of Nations after a commanding 2-0 win against Zimbabwe. The fortunes of favorites Algeria took a dent following a surprise defeat against rivals Tunisia.
January 19 – One of the most revered footballers in Egypt’s history has been placed on the country’s terrorism list over claims that he was directly involved in funding the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
By Samindra Kunti
January 17 – The CAF executive committee has withdrawn the hosting right for this year’s U17 African Cup of Nations from Madagascar.