"The head coach of Mali, Tom Saintfiet, has launched a strong attack on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for plans to move the Africa Cup of Nations to a four-year cycle instead of the current two-year format. He argues that this change risks taking away the glory of African football. "I could understand if it was a question from Africa, if it was a request for any reason needed by the African players, the African Federations or even CAF. But it's all instructed by the big people in UEFA, the big clubs from the Five Leagues in Europe and also by FIFA," Saintfiet told journalists at a press conference in Rabat on Thursday. "That makes it so sad. We fight so long to get respected in Africa, for African people to get respected, for Africans with their own identity, and then to listen to Europe to change your history because this is a history of 67-68 years," he added. Saintfiet also dismissed arguments that the change is intended to protect players from fixture congestion or financial pressure from clubs, describing them as 'weak excuses'. “If you really want to protect players, then make the Champions League only for champions, and stop creating new competitions every few years that increase the workload,” the Malian coach said. He concluded by stressing Africa’s central role in world football, stating, "Africa is the biggest football continent in the world. The passion of football, the quality of the players, the history of all African players, and all the big stars in Europe are Africans." Earlier, CAF announced plans to restructure African football competitions, including turning AFCON into a quadrennial tournament starting after the 2027 and 2028 editions, as well as the creation of a new competition, the 'African Nations League', set to launch in 2029."