Africa Cup of Nations postponed, Inter-club Competitions To Be Played in A Single Format

Africa Cup of Nations postponed to 2022, Inter-club Competitions To Be Played in A Single Format

By Sampson Adedeji

The Africa Cup of Nations, that was scheduled to be played early in 2021, has been postponed until 2022, the Confederation of African Football announced on Tuesday.

All continental sports activities have been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, including the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup, which were originally scheduled to be played on 1 May, BSN Reports

The Nations Cup was scheduled to start on 9 January, 2021 in Cameroon, but the fate of the continental tournament was also unclear given that the CAF has postponed three rounds of qualifiers until further notice.

CAF’s Executive Committee held a video conference on Tuesday morning to discuss the future of the major continental tournaments amid the pandemic.

“The CAF Executive Committee decided that the Nations Cup will be held in Cameroon January 2022 instead of next year," beIN SPORTS reported after the meeting.

Meanwhile, the semi-finals of both the CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup will be played in a single-leg format instead of in two.

The Champions League semi-final will be played next September in Cameroon, while the Confederation Cup semi-final will be at the same month in Rabat, Morocco, but with a single-tie format for both tournaments,” the TV channel added.

Prior to the CAF competitions’ postponement, Egypt’s big names, Ahly and Zamalek, had been set to play Champions League semi-finals against Moroccan sides Wydad de Casablanca and Raja de Casablanca respectively.