The African Football Confederation (CAF) has changed the dates of the next Africa Cup of Nations final to January 2024, six months later, the ruling party president Patrice Motsepe said on Sunday.
He also announced the launch of the African Super League next season, which will be officially launched on August 10.
Both of these decisions were taken at a CAF meeting in Morocco and could spark controversy, especially the days of the Cup of Nations which also clash with the team's commitment to many players.
The finals were due to be played in June next year in Ivory Coast who are still hosting the games.
But concerns about the West African climate over the course of the year have caused quite a stir.
"We took a lot of advice and decided not to risk it," Motsepe told a news conference.
"We do not want to risk that our big tournament will be ruined."
He did not answer the question of why it took so long for the CAF to make the change as it was warned of the rainy season when it was announced that it would be in the middle of 2023.
CAF has postponed the hosting of the continental tournament in mid-2019 to avoid a dispute between the club and the country of its key players.
But concerns over the weather and the Covid-19 epidemic led to the final program being played in Cameroon in January, which also sparked complaints from European clubs being forced to offer their African players a national job in the middle of the season.
"January is not the best time because European clubs do not want to release their players but there is nothing we can do," Motsepe added.
He said the CAF would now be able to postpone the qualifiers scheduled for September to give delegates five World Cup qualifiers the opportunity to host tough international matches as part of Qatar's preparations.
"We want to do everything we can to help our national teams go to Qatar," Motsepe said.
He declined to comment on the formation of a new Super League, saying it would not replace the existing Champions League in Africa.
He said it would be presented at the CAF conference in Arusha, Tanzania in August.
"We will have a complete overhaul of all club games in all competitions," he added.
The African Super League has been promoted for many years, first proposed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino who emphasized that it would attract more sponsors to the African game.
The idea met with a silent response in Africa as opposed to a strong opposition to a similar proposal in Europe last year, which quickly dispelled the idea.
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