Sporting events to look forward to in 2021

The world was hit with a global pandemic which affected every aspect of life from education to sporting events in 2020, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Covid-19 led to the cancellation and suspension of major sporting events across the African continent and the world at large. As a result of this, most of the sporting events were rescheduled to 2021. BSNSports com.ng puts together the key sporting events to look forward to in 2021. CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup The 2020-2021 CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation will continue across the continent as clubs battle for supremacy and bragging rights. 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualification The second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers which is played over 6 Match days will commence on May 31 to October 2021. The Black Stars of Ghana find themselves in Group G and will be battling it out with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. A total of 5 slots in the final tournament are available for countries from the African continent. African U-20 Cup of Nations The 16 edition of the African U-20 Cup of Nations will come off from February 14 at Mauritania. Ghana’s U-20 team has already booked their place at the tournament. Competing teams have been expanded to 12 teams from 8. 2020 Summer Olympics The International Olympic Committee postponed the 2020 Summer Olympics due to Covid-19 and will be held on July 23 to August 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 55 sporting disciplines for both the Olympics and the Paralympics are scheduled to take place. African will be represented in some of the disciplines including boxing, football, swimming, hockey, volleyball and a host of others. 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Qualification The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches will be organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the 33rd edition of the international men’s football championship of Africa. A total of 24 teams will qualify to play in the final tournament, including Cameroon who qualified automatically as hosts. 2020 African Nations Championship CAF postponed the 2020 African Nations Championship to 2021 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the continent. The tournament which exclusively features players from the respective national championships would be held from January and February 2021. Morocco will be hoping to defend their title. Africa U-17 Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations will be the 14th edition of the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations. The biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below. The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru as the CAF representatives. IHF World Men’s Handball Championship The 2021 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship will be the 27th event hosted by the International Handball Federation and will be held in Egypt from 13 to 31 January 2021. This will be the first Handball Championship with 32 teams instead of 24. Women’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup South Africa will host the 2021 Women’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup from 5th to 16 December 2021 at Potchefstroom. The annual Women’s U-21 field hockey World Championship is organized by International Hockey Federation. African Women’s Handball Championship The 2020 African Women’s Handball Championship will be the 24th edition of the African Women’s Handball Championship, which was originally scheduled to take place from 2 to 12 December 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled to 11 to 20 June 2021 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. COPA America 2021 Argentina and Columbia will co-host the 47th edition of the Copa America from 10th June to 11th July 2021. Lionel Messi will be hoping for major silverware for Argentina once again. EURO 2020 Following the postponement of Euro 2020 due to the outbreak, the elite competition will take place from 11 June – 11 July 2021 in 12 host cities CAF Presidential Elections Following Ahmad Ahmad’s ban by FIFA, African football will have a new leader when they visit the polls on March 12, 2021, in Morocco. Five candidates will be vying for the vacant post; Augustin Senghor (Senegal), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Patrice Motsepe (South Africa) and Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania).