July 17 – After weeks of speculation the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that its showpiece event, the African Cup of Nations, will stick to the summer months in 2023 and be held June/July in the Ivory Coast – a massive ask for the players who will now have to play three major tournaments in 18 months.
By Paul Nicholson
July 16 – Egyptian giants Zamalek are taking their protests over CAF’s 2020 award of the ‘African club of the Century’ to Al-Ahly to the confederation’s ethics function, claiming the club rankings that decided the title were rigged.
July 15 – Former Ivory Coast icon Didier Drogba’s hopes of becoming the next president of his country’s football federation has suffered a serious setback after the failure of his fellow players to support his candidacy.
July 14 – Kicked from pillar to post in recent months over staging major events, sometimes due to its own inadequacies, Cameroon has pulled out of hosting a planned mini-tournament to decide the 2020 African Champions League winners.
July 14 – South African officials are expected to reveal Monday when the richest league in Africa will restart after being halted in March by the coronavirus pandemic.
July 9 – South Africa’s FA (SAFA) has confirmed it will oversee all procedures relating to ‘return-to-play’ protocols after the country’s Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa urged the federation and the Premier Soccer League to work together to pave the way for a resumption in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
July 6 – Seven Eritrean international players who have been in hiding in Uganda for more than six months are still seeking asylum for fear of what might happen to them if they are sent home.
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.
June 30 – Having waited since 2004, Somalia today sees the return to football in its national stadium – Stadium Mogadishu.
June 16 – More doubt is being cast on next year’s African Nations Cup in Cameroon because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
June 15 – Tanzania has become the first African country to resume the league season after an enforced coronavirus shutdown since March. Local authorities have imposed strict protocols to stage matches and allow fans in attendance.
May 29 – Reports in Africa suggest next year’s African Cup of Nations may be in jeopardy because of the Covid-19 outbreak, a further blow to hosts Cameroon.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
May 29 – Zamalek’s controversial president Murtada Mansour has proclaimed his club as ‘African club of the century’, 20 years after Al-Ahly were officially given the moniker by African governing body CAF.
By Samindra Kunti
May 6 – The list of seasons that won’t be completed is growing. In Africa, Congo, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Niger have all cancelled the remainder of their seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic.
May 6 – Competing stakeholders in Kenyan football have clashed over the decision to wind up the league because of the coronavirus.