The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has increased the cash prize money for the upcoming 2023 TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations by 40 per cent.
The continental football body disclosed this on Thursday on its website.
CAF stated that the winner of the 2023 AFCON will receive $7 million while the runner-up will now get $4 million.
Each of the two semi-finalists will receive $2.5 million and each of the four quarter-finalists will get $1.3 million.
The statement, according to the CAF President, Dr. Patrice Motsepeon, read, “CAF has made significant progress over the past two years in increasing the prize money of the AFCON and all its other major competitions.
“We have increased the prize money of the AFCON winner to USD 7,000,000 which is a 40% increase from the previous AFCON prize money.
“I am confident that a portion of the prize money will contribute to developing football and also benefit all the football stakeholders, as well as assist our member associations with their administrations.”
Recall that CAF also raised the prize money of the previous AFCON edition in 2022 to $5 million.
The winner’s prize money was increased from $4.5 million, representing an increase of about 11 per cent.
The decision was taken in Douala, Cameroon, during the meeting of the Executive Committee of the CAF.
PUNCH Online reports that the tournament will be held from January 13 to February 11 in Ivory Coast.
Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro’s side was drawn in Group A alongside hosts, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau, and have adopted the catch-phrase ‘Let’s Do It Again’ as their battle cry towards winning a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title in early next year.