FIFA is mulling over the idea of cancelling all international breaks for this year, meaning the four outstanding qualifying matchdays of the 2021 AFCON may not hold.
FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani, who also chairs the organisation’s calendar Working Group, says the measure is meant to avoid further spread of the Coronavirus. However, nothing has been decided, according to him.
CAF has been defiant on completing the AFCON qualifiers during the September and October international windows, to ready the 23 participating teams alongside host Cameroon for the finals holding between January 9 and February 6.
However, if FIFA’s fresh proposal comes to fruition the 2021 AFCON will definitely not take place during that period, because it would be impossible to conclude the qualifiers by then.
Another obstacle lies ahead. CAF has ruled out organising the tournament in June/July, due to the terrible wet weather in central Africa during that period.
