The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations  (AFCON) will be held in June and July, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed.

The tournament is usually held in January and February, causing disputes with European clubs who had to release players in the middle of the season.

The Europeans clubs and coaches had been complaining about the timing of the Africa Cup of nations for over decades, yet the outgone CAF President Issa Hayatou stood to his grounds and maintained January as the perod for the continental showpiece.

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He argued that the June-July which favours the European clubs becasue they will be on break, is not good for football in Africa due torrential rains in most parts of the African continet around that time.

However, there is a drastic change in the date the AFCON will start some months after Ahmad unseated Issa Hayatou as the president of CAF following a decision by CAF Executive Committee meeting in the Moroccan capital of Rabat.

The 2019 event in Cameroon will be contested by 24 teams, instead of 16.

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The changes were rubber-stamped by the CAF executive committee in a meeting in the Moroccan capital Rabat.