Caf postpones 2021 Afcon qualifiers
What you need to know:
- Kenya's Harambee Stars were to host Comoros at Kasarani on March 25 with the return leg scheduled for six days later away in the 2021 Afcon qualifying Match Day 3 and 4.
The Confederation of Africa Football have announced the postponement of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers which were to be played later this month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kenya's Harambee Stars were to host Comoros at Kasarani on March 25 with the return leg scheduled for six days later away in the 2021 Afcon qualifying Match Day 3 and 4.
A total of 48 matches were scheduled to be played between Wednesday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 31. Caf acting secretary general Abdel Bah said in a statement that several factors led to the postponements.
This postponement comes as a big relief for Football Kenya Federation, who had written to Caf earlier in the week requesting for the matches to be suspended until a later date due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19. The Kenyan Sports Ministry had late last month issued a directive that barred all sports teams from travelling to countries where cases of the coronavirus have been reported.
The men and women's beach volleyball teams were the first victims of this directive as they were barred from honouring their second round Olympics qualifiers in Gambia (men) and Nigeria (women).
Caf had earlier in the week indicated that the matches would go on as scheduled before changing their stance on Friday.
"Following the growing concern of the COVID-19 virus and the latest declaration of the World Health Organisation (WHO) describing it as a pandemic. CAF emergency committee has decided to postpone the following matches until further notice:
-Total Afcon 2021 Qualifiers: Match days 3 and 4 of the qualifiers initially scheduled from 25th to 31st March.
-Fifa Women U-20 World Cup Qualifiers: Initially scheduled from 20-22 March and 27-29 March.
-Total Women AFCON 2020 Qualifiers: Initially scheduled from 8th to 14th April.
The 2020 African Nations Championship (Chan) might also suffer the same fate.
"Concerning the Total African Nations Championship (Chan 2020) scheduled in Cameroon from 4th to 25th April, a delegation from the Caf Medical Committee is scheduled to visit Cameroon from 14-15 March 2020. The purpose of this mission is to assess all the preventive measures taken by the Local Organising Committee, a decision will be taken after the inspection visit," Caf said in a statement.
"On the other hand, Caf has also decided to postpone the Match Commissioners Workshop scheduled for the 19th & 20th March until further notice."
"We would like to assure you that Caf is monitoring the situation closely and working with the competent authorities such as the WHO on the impact of the virus in the continent and Caf Competitions."
