NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 30 – The next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled for 2021 in Cameroon has now been pushed by a year to 2022 while the Women’s Cup of Nations scheduled for November this year has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a virtual address after an Executive Committee on Tuesday evening, CAF boss Ahmad Ahmad says the decision was taken due to the current situation from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Health is the priority for everyone and we should protect all sportsmen, officials, journalists and the public as well. This is the sacred mission of CAF,” Ahmad said in the Zoom Press Conference.
The Women’s Cup of Nations had been scheduled for November but a host country was yet to be selected while the qualifiers had been scheduled to start in April, but were postponed due to the virus.
In its place, CAF has made a resolution to start a Champions League tournament for the women next season.
Meanwhile, the African Nations Championship (CHAN) that had been scheduled for April this year in Cameroon has been pushed to January next year. The draw had already been done for the tournament.
For the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup, the semi-final and final matches will be played in a single leg format in September.
Morocco will host the Confederation Cup matches while a decision is yet to be reached on who will host the Champions League matches
Ahmad also announced that the CAF General Assembly will take place in Addis Ababa in December this year, but this will be dependent on the situation with the virus. The elective assembly has also been scheduled for March next year after the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Mauritania.