The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is one of the major continental competitions of international football and the latest edition of the 24-team event will be conducted in January 2022 in Cameroon. Algeria are set to defend the title they won in 2019.
However, new doubts have been raised about whether the latest version of AFCON will come out ahead of the increase in COVID cases around the world due to the Omicron variant.
So is AFCON 2021 canceled and why is the contest in danger of being postponed? Here’s everything we know so far.
Can AFCON be cancelled?
It is reported that AFCON is at risk of disqualification due to an increase in Omicron COVID-19 variant cases.
The tournament has been pushed back from its original summer kickoff date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is thought another postponement – or even cancellation – is now imminent. Around 40 players from the Premier League are expected to appear in the African league and discussion has begun about how much of an impact it could have on the club’s season, should they join the league.
Clubs clearly have time to prepare for player replacements, but on some levels there is no substitute talent like Mohamed Salah, N’Golo Kante and many others who can attend the trip. . With clubs already facing squad strangulation due to COVID-19, further thinning the pool of players could pose serious difficulties for clubs.
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In addition, travel to Africa and back to Europe may require additional quarantine measures as the teams look to be as seething as possible to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 into their camps.
Cases of COVID-19 is on the rise in the African continent at nearly twice the height of the Delta variant. In addition, vaccine equity across the continent varies considerably, with only 20 of 54 African countries registering vaccination rates above 10% and only six reaching 40%. It is estimated that vaccination rates in Cameroon is about 2 percent.
Confederation of African Football Responds
There has not been any official announcement about the possible cancellation of the tournament. However, AFCON organizers are said to be forced to change their plans due to safety and logistical concerns.
Report of RMC Sport that there is “uncertainty” surrounding the tournament and that the CAF (Confederation of African Football) may cancel the event.
The CAF’s communications director, Alex Siewe, told the BBC: “We cannot continue to spend time dealing with rumours.”
European Club Association (ECA) also threatened recently not to release players for the tournament. The ECA said it was seeking assurances on “three fundamental concerns for clubs when it comes to the release of players for national teams”.
Those concerns are “that every player’s health is protected”, “that clubs are not forced to be short of players in club competitions” and that players must be able to return. Their club “in a timely manner, according to the applicable rules” follows the conclusion of the tournament.
“Currently, these three principles are at risk of not being respected in relation to the upcoming January releases,” the ECA stated in their release.
When will AFCON 2021 take place?
The 2021 African Nations Cup will officially start on January 9 in Cameroon.
The host country will face Burkina Faso in the opening match in Yaounde, with the match then expected to run until the final in the capital on February 6.
However, there had been concerns earlier that Cameroon would be stripped of its hosting duties following problems in the preparations. Former African Football Confederation’s technical director, Abdel Moneim Shatta, even suggested from the start if December that the event could be moved to Qatar.
CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba has since joined the team in Cameroon to ensure that everything goes well by 9 January, but the latest increase in Omicron cases could once again lead to rethink.
There’s been precedent recently of changing hosts close to the scheduled tournament start time. In 2019, Cameroon was also slated to host the event, but the decision was made to choose Egypt as the new host with just six months to go before the tournament. The change was made due to a delay in providing the necessary infrastructure.
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When can AFCON 2021 be rescheduled?
It is not yet known when AFCON may be rescheduled, if it is postponed again.
With the 2022 World Cup set to take place in November in Qatar, there is likely to be a gap for AFCON in the summer of 2022, but the possibility of player burnout will also have to be considered after the club season ends. ends in May.
