The Confederation of African Football has unveiled a new logo and trophy for the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) to be hosted in August.
The federation said the new trophy stands as a powerful symbol of African football’s ongoing progress and shared passion for the game.
The new look comes just hours before the final draw of the games is conducted in Nairobi on Wednesday night from 8 pm.
In a statement, CAF said the changes bring a fresh identity and emphasises the tournament’s deep-rooted connections to African football and culture.
“It comes with a new TotalEnergies CHAN 2024 trophy that features a sleek, contemporary design, combining gold and silver elements, representing the prestige and growing stature of the tournament,” CAF said.
Among the new features of the trophy are 54 distinct lines encircling the trophy, a significant detail CAF says symbolizes the 54 African nations united with a map of the continent at its core.
“This element underscores the championship’s celebration of diversity and unity across the continent. Each line represents the foundation of African football, a pathway carved by our passion and skill, a tribute to our players and our dreams,” the federation said.
The TotalEnergies CHAN 2024 has been fraught with surprises, turns and twists as the continent awaits the fancied football extravaganza.
Initially slated to be held in September 2024, the tournament was postponed to February 1 to 28, 2025, and then again pushed to August 2025, with CAF citing infrastructural inefficiencies.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe said in a statement on Tuesday the exact new date for the tournament will be communicated in due course.
He nonetheless commended joint hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania for efforts they have put into refurbishing and constructing new stadia, hotels and other support facilities for the games but said expert supervisors said more time was needed for the facilities to be put to standard to host the matches.
The TotalEnergies CHAN 2024 will be the eighth edition of the finals and the first to be played in East Africa since Rwanda hosted in 2016.
Wednesday’s draw will be staged at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
It will feature 19 teams made up of home-based players who will battle it out for the right to be crowned champions.
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Morocco, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Sudan, Zambia, Angola and Madagascar have already qualified for the games.
Two additional countries will also participate after qualifying from the remaining matches.
On January 7, CAF announced new prize money for the winner of the tournament - $3.5 million (Sh452m) representing a 75 per cent increase from the previous cash prize.
The federation said the cumulative prize money had also been increased by 32 per cent to $10.4 million (Sh1.342 billion).
Motsepe said the new prize money will contribute significantly to the global competitiveness of African football and CAF Competitions.
“This competition is part of our strategy of investing in African football and making it appealing and attractive to football fans, TV viewers, sponsors, partners and other stakeholders in Africa and worldwide,” he said.
