By David Gold
October 11 – The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has asked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to find an alternative host for the London 2012 qualifying tournament for Africa, in the wake of a surge of violence in the country.
Eight teams were due to come to Egypt from November 26 to December 10 for the tournament, at which three countries would qualify automatically for London next year.
Group A will see Egypt compete alongside Ivory Coast, Gabon and South Africa, whilst in Group B Algeria, Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria.
The three teams with the best record will qualify directly for London 2012, with the fourth best team facing a play off with an Asian representative.
The EFA has told CAF that they would not be able to stage the competition, with neighbours Algeria likely to be the replacement for Egypt.
Clashes between protesters and the army took place on Sunday (October 9) in which 25 people were killed, raising tensions to the highest point they have been since the overthrow of dictator Hosni Mubarak in January.
During the process of organising elections, the army are in control of the country, but the latest violence threatens their ability to keep order, which appears to have forced the EFA’s hand and scrapped their plans to host the Olympic qualifying tournament.
CAF’s Heba Abdallah has confirmed the request but insisted that no decisions had been made on a replacement.
“Nigeria and Algeria were initially interested in hosting the tournament, and as it stands, we don’t know if they are still interested in hosting at short notice,” he said.
“We will be waiting for a reply from both countries.
“At the moment, we are hoping so.”
Algeria seems the more likely option given the proximity to Egypt, as well as the fact that Nigeria has missed out on hosting a number of tournaments in recent years.
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