Afcon 2021: Caf increase prize money for participating teams

The Confederation of African football have increased the prize money for teams participating at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The competition is scheduled to start on Sunday with the opening game between host nation Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

Ahead of the opening ceremony, Caf's Executive Committee held a meeting in Douala which was chaired by President Patrice Motsepe on Friday and they reached an agreement to increase the financial rewards for participating teams.

A total of $1.850 million was added to the prize money from the quarter-final stage to the final.

The new prize money for eventual champions of the competition is $5 million - a $500,000 increase from the previous prize in the 2019 edition.

The runner-up will get $2.75 million while the semi-finalists and quarter-finalists will take home $2.2 million and $1.175 million respectively.

A statement from Caf's website read: "The new TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Prize Monies; Winner: USD 5 million (an increase of USD 500,000).

"Runner-up: USD 2.75 million (an increase of USD 250,000). Semi-Finalists: USD 2.2 million (an increase of USD 200,000). Quarter-Finalists: USD 1.175 million (an increase of USD 175,000)."

Algeria are the defending Afcon champions after lifting the trophy in the 2019 edition in Egypt.

Earlier on Friday, Caf also confirmed that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be used in all 52 matches at the 2021 Afcon in Cameroon. In 2019, VAR was only available from the quarter-finals to the final.

For the tournament, 63 match officials will be on parade - 24 referees, 31 assistant referees and eight video assistant referees have been drawn from 36 countries, with two referees from Concacaf.