Fast forward December 2023, one month prior to AFCON 2023 hosted by Ivory Coast. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA, Competition Commission ruled that the agreement between CAF and beIN Sport, overlooked by Lagardere was in breach. COMESA subsequently fined CAF and beIN Media Group $300 000 each and ordered that the rights should be terminated at the end of 2024. Legal disputes and concerns which resulted in CAF paying Lagardère Sports $50m order to cancel the $1 billion deal.

That was the state of governance Motsepe found CAF in when he was sworn in as CAF president in 2021. Financially, CAF had recorded a loss of $44.96m down from $11.43m in 2020, partly due to the COVID pandemic of course.

During the 22-23 fiscal year, CAF under the leadership of Motsepe achieved a decrease in losses from $28.9m in 21-22m to $9.2m. Additionally, CAF has increased its investment in football development for the 24-25 fiscal year by pledging $29.8m in the following areas:

• • $400 000 grant to member associations, an increase of 100%.

• • $750 000 grant to zones, an increase of 50.

• • An introduction of $50 000 allowance to clubs eliminated in the preliminary stages of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup.

CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe emphasized the importance of media rights as a significant source of income for the development of African football. He highlighted the growing interest in African football from both African and international broadcasters. Following the extensive global media and broadcast rights partnership with various international broadcasters during AFCON, CAF welcomed SuperSport, SABC, and Azam as broadcast and media rights partners in Sub-Saharan African territory for the 24/25 CAF Interclub season.

Broadcast and Media Rights are driving CAF's commercial success. During the 2023/24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League season, North Africa experienced a 25% increase in TV and digital viewership, while both East Africa and Southern Africa achieved even stronger growth of over 40%. This surge in viewership has enhanced CAF's sponsorship potential, with TotalEnergies leading as the headline sponsor through an annual investment of $250m for a period of 8 years. During 2023, CAF announced a roster of 12 new partners through a tiered partnership category with PUMA, VISA and Orange as Official Global Partners. CAF has also enlisted IMG as the global sponsorship agency until 2025 to deliver new sponsorship opportunities for all CAF Competitions.

These strategic partners have resulted in a $72m profit from this year's AFCON which was 18 times larger than that generated by the 2022 edition, which was plagued by COVID-19.

The 2023 AFCON winners received a grand prize of $5m, while runners-up received $3 m. On the club front, from 2024, the CAF Champions League winners will be awarded $4 m compared to $2.5m received in 2022. Winners of the Confederation Cup will be awarded $2m compared to 1.2m received in 2022. In 2023, CAF introduced the African Football League which included 8 teams and was set to be expanded in 2024, but plans haven't materialised due to the fixture congestion heightened by the upcoming Club World Cup. Visit Saudi Arabia was the main sponsor of the inaugural AFL, however Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund plans to cut its overseas spend to focus on domestic projects. It is unclear what this means for the AFL.

Looking ahead CAFs strategy is driven by an investment in Member Associations and Zones, by empowering grassroots, CAF believes they can foster a sustainable ecosystem for football development. CAF has reported $72 m profit from the 2023 AFCON, CAF anticipates a net profit of $11.7m from a projected revenue of $149.9m and expenses of 138.2m. The first profit reported by CAF in years and a notable turnaround from the CAF Patrice Motsepe inherited.