The Africa Cup of Nations, that was scheduled to hold early in 2021, has been postponed until 2022, the Confederation of African Football announced on Tuesday.
“After consultation with stakeholders and taking into consideration the current global situation, the tournament has been rescheduled for January 2022. The date for the final tournament and the remaining matches of the qualifiers will be communicated in due course,” a statement read on the CAF website.
The CAF executive committee held a meeting on Tuesday to make a crucial decision on the fate of its competitions amid the pandemic.
“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,” CAF President Ahmad Ahmad told a news conference after the meeting.
All continental sporting activities have been suspended since March at the wake of coronavirus surge in the Africa continent, including the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup, which were originally scheduled to be played in May.
The Nations Cup was scheduled to start on January 9, 2021 in Cameroon, but the possibility of the continental tournament was uncertain given that the CAF has postponed three rounds of qualifiers until further notice.
The CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup will resume in September in a final four mode. The semi-finals will be played in a single match. The Confederation Cup mini-tournament will be played in Morocco, while the venue of the Champions League is yet to be decided.
“But we have to see what happens with the pandemic and what the situation will be. We have made a decision today but this could all change tomorrow,” Ahmad added.
Due to the current circumstances, the African governing body has also decided to cancel the CAF awards 2020.
Also on Tuesday, the CAF Executive Committee decided to postpone the 2020 African Nations Championship to January 2021 in Cameroon, while the Women’s 2020 has been cancelled.
The African governing body also announced that it will disburse $300,000 to each association member to aid manage the problems posed by the coronavirus.
