AFCON pushed back to 2022

CAF, The Confederation of African Football, confirmed the postponement of the 2021 African Cup of Nations as well as announcing major changes for the current iteration of the Champions League and Confederation cup.

Taking into consideration the Coronavirus crisis, the CAF executive committee met on Tuesday and came up with the changes to the various tournaments. 

President Ahmad Ahmad confirmed the move of AFCON 2021, scheduled for Cameroon, to January 2022.  CHAN, the African Championship of Nations will be played in January 2021. 

In a statement posted on the CAF website, the organization stated “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. “The CAF Executive Committee is satisfied with  the Cameroonian authorities for their commitment towards the hosting of the two competitions. Cameroon is ready to host either competition and are within schedule,” CAF President Ahmad Ahmad said.”

The CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, will resume play in September with a Final Four (4) format and Semi-Final matches will be played in a single match rather than home and away matches.

Raja Casablanca, Wydad Casablanca, Al Ahly and Zamalek  are the four teams that will partake in the matches for place in the CAF Champions League Final.

With regard to the women’s game, the 2020 Women’s AFCON has been eliminated and the CAF Women’s Champions League will be launched in 2021. 

The  U-17 AFCON will take place in July 2021 but arrangements are still being finalized for the U-17 and U-20 zonal qualifiers.

The 2020 version of the CAF awards has been cancelled but event partners, Pickalbatros Group, have re-affirmed their contractual commitment towards the next two (2) editions.

CAF confirmed  the appointment of Ali Aissaoui as Commercial Director. Prior to joining CAF, the Moroccan served as Business Development Manager of FC Barcelona while also allocating an additional USD 16.2 Million to assist Member Associations to mitigate challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each Member Association will be entitled to USD 300,000.

Algeria are the reigning men’s AFCON champions after victory over Senegal in the 2019 tournament. Ivory Coast are set to host the 2023 version but CAF are yet to mention whether that will be pushed back a year as well.