July 1 – Next year’s African Cup of Nations has been postponed until January 2022 because of a backlog of matches caused by the coronavirus.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said the 24-team tournament in Cameroon was being moved from its Jan 9 to Feb 6 slot because the 12 qualifying groups faced too great a challenge to be completed this year.
African national teams have yet to play in the official FIFA-approved dates this year and they may not be able to resume in October. With four qualifying rounds still to be played, only four match dates are likely available in October and November.
The Continent’s showpiece tournament is reverting back to its traditional January slot and represents a huge boost to Cameroon which was initially scheduled to be the venue for the 2019 event before CAF stripped the country of hosting rights because of delays in preparations and security concerns, and handed them 2021 instead.
Now there is another delay with AFCON taking place in the same year as the World Cup, meaning an exhausting year for Africa’s top players.
“This decision was taken due to the uncertainties about the coronavirus health situation and especially because of the scheduling problems since four rounds of qualifiers would need to be fitted into the October and November windows for international matches,” said CAF boss Ahmad Ahmad.
The shift marks the second scheduling change this year for the Africa’s flagship event. It was originally set to be played in June-July 2021 but that is Cameroon’s rainy season.
Significantly, the latest development is a big boost to European clubs who will now be able to retain their African stars next season without being required to release them for a January-February tournament.
But in a serious blow to the women’s game, the female version of the tournament has been scrapped altogether. No new host has been found since Congo withdrew last year. As a result CAF cancelled the event “due to challenging conditions” and will instead launch a Women’s Champions League in 2021.
Meanwhile, each of CAF’s 54 member federations will get $300,000 in extra funding to help overcome lost revenue during the pandemic in a total aid package worth $16.2 million.
Cameroon was also scheduled to host the final of the delayed African Champions League in Doualla in May. That, too, was disrupted – at the semifinal stage. CAF said it planned to resume in September with a knockout event of single-leg games at a single venue – probably still in Cameroon.
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