Marrakech – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially delayed the opening of the first phase of ticket sales for the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (AFCON) 2025. The announcement came after the ticketing platform crashed just minutes after going live on Thursday.
The highly anticipated ticket presale, which was exclusively available to Visa cardholders starting at noon on September 25, quickly descended into chaos. Thousands of eager fans flooded the official platform at tickets.cafonline.com, causing the system to collapse under the massive traffic.
Many supporters who attempted to purchase tickets were met with an error message reading: “Ticketing temporarily unavailable. Due to high demand, all available tickets are currently being purchased. Thank you for your understanding.”
In an official statement, CAF explained they needed to “finalize important details that will ensure the best possible experience for fans” and would announce a new date for the first phase of ticket sales soon. The organization apologized for any inconvenience caused by the delay.
The ticketing process had originally been structured in multiple phases. The presale, which offered 30% of stadium capacity, was scheduled to run from September 25 to 27 for Visa cardholders before opening to the general public on September 27 at 2 p.m. Moroccan time.
Prior to this, CAF had opened a pre-registration period from September 12 to 24, allowing fans to receive notifications when sales began. A second presale following the same process was planned for October 21-23, with remaining tickets scheduled to go on sale on November 21.
The technical failure has sparked frustration among football enthusiasts across the continent, many of whom took to social media to express their disappointment. The situation is particularly concerning as the tournament is now less than 100 days away from kickoff.
CAF says it is working with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and various stakeholders to resolve the issues. Fans hoping to attend the continental football showcase will need to wait for further announcements regarding the new ticket sale dates.
