The draw ceremony of the 2021 African Cup of Nations initially billed to hold 25 June 2021 has been postponed. The announcement shifting the draw to a later date still to be announced was made by the Confederation of African Football, CAF. A statement posted on CAF website said the postponement is due to ‘logistical relations related to the coronavirus’.
“At the request of CAF, the Cameroon Local Organizing Committee (LOC) has agreed to postpone the Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 final draw for logistical reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement read on CAF’s website read.
“CAF continues to work together with its partners, the Cameroon government and the LOC with the objective of making the Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 a successful event and a great celebration of African football,” said CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe.
The 24 team competition is scheduled to start 9 January 2022 and end 6 February. Six stadia are expected to be set to host the games in five cities. Cameroon were initially earmarked to host the competition between June and July in 2021 but it was later changed to the January/February slot two years ago because of climatic conditions.
Just last month, the African football governing body again postponed the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers from this month to September due to ‘challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic’. CAF inspection team recently left Cameroon to evaluate the state of readiness for the completion.
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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