Covid 19 : CAF's Secretary-General Denies Calling off African Competitions

Covid 19 : CAF's Secretary-General Denies Calling off African Competitions

By Sampson Adedeji

Confederation of African Football (CAF) Secretary-General Abdel-Moneim Bah said that there is no intention so far to call off this season's African competitions despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The Moroccan acting secretary-general, who was appointed in March following the resignation of his fellow countryman Mouad Hajji, through a video conference on tuesday to announce the latest updates, BSN Reports.

"There is no intention to cancel any competition. We are preparing several scenarios to reschedule the tournaments affected by the crisis,” said CAF's former TV marketing director.

CAF has delayed all the fixtures scheduled for March and April, including the 2021 AFCON qualifiers. Bah said the confederation is following up on the latest updates from FIFA, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the local authorities.

“Concerning the Africa Cup of Nations, we hope the crisis will end before the summer. In that case, we will hold the AFCON qualifiers in September and November to play the tournament on its scheduled time in January and February 2021,” he added.

The CAF secretary-general also said the African Nations Championship has not been cancelled until now, but they aspire to find alternative dates later this year.

Speaking about the African clubs' competitions he said,

“we have already reached the semi-finals at the African Champions League and Confederation Cup. They are scheduled for May, we will see what’s going to happen in the next few weeks, and how to reschedule the games in the upcoming months if needed.

“But the new season’s situation will be complicated because it will depend on the results of the domestic competitions all over the continent," he added.