The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has postponed the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations originally scheduled for January/February in Cameroon to the same period in 2022, following the consequences of the COVID-19, the body said after its Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday.
Football activities are yet to resume in much of Africa, with four rounds of matches left to play in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.
CAF was hoping to clear the outstanding games in the next FIFA break of October and November to pave way for the finals, but the prospects kept declining with the spike of Covid-19 cases across the continent.
A six-month postponement proposal was initially floated by CAF officials but the local organizing committee in Cameroon quickly rebuffed the idea, arguing that it would land the tournament in raining season and also clash with the EURO.
Furthermore, CAF also adjusted the calendar for the African Nations Championship (CHAN), which was to hold in Cameroon last April. It will now take place in January 2021.
Another major decision from Tuesday’s online CAF conference was the cancellation of the 2020 Africa Women Cup of Nations which was yet to be assigned a host nation.
Instead, the body said an African Women’s Champions League will be launched “to keep players in activity”.
