Paulo Duarte has criticised the Confederation of African Football’s organisation of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, warning that the format is unfair and places excessive physical demands on players.
With the qualifying campaign due to begin in three weeks, the Guinea coach has objected to both the structure of the competition and the scheduling of the matches.
The Syli National are in Group D alongside South Africa, Kenya and Eritrea. Guinea will open their campaign against the Bafana Bafana on 26 September 2026 before hosting Kenya at Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry on 1 October.
Duarte’s first complaint concerns the qualification system. Kenya are one of the three host nations for AFCON 2027 and have already secured their place at the finals. As a result, fewer qualifying places are available to the other teams in the group.
“In this qualification, there are nine teams that do not have the same possibilities as the others to qualify. It was a bad decision by CAF that penalises Guinea, South Africa, Eswatini and all the other teams in these groups,” Duarte told Guineenews.
The Portuguese coach, who received an offer from Angola in February, believes groups containing one of the tournament’s host nations create an imbalance compared with the other qualifying pools.
He also criticised the fixture calendar, particularly the short gap between matches and the travelling involved.
“Why does CAF want to massacre the players physically by making them play one match on the 25th, then another on the 30th or the 1st, while imposing journeys of 10, 15 or 20 hours on the teams?” he said.
Duarte argued that the international window, which lasts between 14 and 15 days, would have allowed CAF to create more space between the two competitive fixtures.
The Guinea manager said the current schedule left little time for recovery, while international players would arrive late and teams would be unable to hold meaningful training sessions between long-distance trips.
Guinea face an additional logistical challenge because their opening away fixture is against South Africa, one of the longest possible journeys on the continent from their base in West Africa.
“We got the furthest possible opponent: South Africa, at the other end of the continent compared with Guinea,” Duarte said.
His plan is to return directly to Conakry after the match in South Africa, with the aim of reducing fatigue before the home game against Kenya five days later.
That leaves Guinea facing a demanding preparation period, with the squad required to travel across the continent before quickly regrouping for another important qualifier.
For Duarte, the arrangements illustrate the wider problems with a schedule he says is difficult to understand and does not give players enough time to recover or prepare properly.