The Confederation of African Football has shifted the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to 2022 as a result of COVID-19.
CAF made the announcement after its Executive Committee meeting, which was held via video conference on Tuesday.
The competition was slated to take place in Cameroon between January 9 and February 6, 2021.
“After consultation with stakeholders and taking into consideration the current global situation, the tournament (2021 AFCON) 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,” CAF said in a statement.
CAF also announced that the 2020 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations slated for November 23 to December 20 had been cancelled.
Another major decision taken at the CAF meeting was the cancellation of the 2020 CAF Awards.
The football body also moved the 2020 African Nations Championship for home-based players, which was also set to be hosted by Cameroon, to January 2021.
Other decisions taken by CAF include the resumption of the Champions League and the Confederation’s Cup in September, with the ‘final four format.’ The semi-final games for both competitions would now be played over a single leg, with winners qualifying for the final.
The venue for the Champions League final is yet to be decided, while the Confederation’s Cup final four would take place in Morocco.
CAF also announced the introduction of the Women’s Champions League, which will be launched in 2021.
The U-17 and U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers will be on a zonal basis, while the U-17 AFCON takes place in July 2021.
Source: Punch Newspaper
