The situation of the African Nations Cup finals scheduled for the beginning of next year 2021 in Cameroon is at stake, especially after the postponement of the European Cup and Copa America 2020 until next year. And if many football dignitaries on the brown continent are calling for "postponement", then other personalities refuse to "prejudice" the continental championship and set it up on schedule.
Will the curse continue to chase the Cameroonian version of the continental cup? The finals were scheduled for 2019 in Cameroon, but the African Union decided to grant them to Egypt due to the delay in infrastructure work in Cameroon, and entrusted the latter with organizing the next version in the beginning of 2021, specifically from January 9 to February 6, and here also the finals were transferred from summer to Winters, because the climatic conditions are very hot in the summer in this country located in the western part of the continent.
But, as for the European Cup and the Copa America, which were postponed for a year and scheduled for the summer of 2021, the global health crisis is now threatening the AU calendar for the game.
Many prominent personalities in the football world on the brown continent, led by the former "Untamed Black" national team and captain Samuel Eto'o, said in a statement to "France 24" channel: "Health is the most important at the present time, and the football authorities in the continent The brunette got it, I don't see CAF president Ahmed Ahmed risking the health of round ball fans in order to organize a copy of the Africa Cup of Nations. "
"The most important thing is to be out of danger. We will have time to organize this continental championship."
"I know that the African Cup is an important nation for Africa and it is also important for the host country, but I think that the next version should be canceled or postponed," he said, for his part, the Algerian national team, the defending champion, Adnan Kaddoura.
The "Covid-19" epidemic has not spread relatively significantly in the African continent, as it has so far officially left fewer than 2,500 deaths. But the symptoms of infection with this virus suggest that this outcome is likely to rise, especially in Nigeria.
In addition to the threat of the "Covid-19" virus, the impossibility of completing the qualifiers for the finals also worries African officials, especially since there are four stages remaining.
"If it is difficult to organize the qualifiers until September, it will be difficult to hold the finals in January," the president of the Senegalese Football Confederation, Augustine Senghor, wrote in an internal newsletter for the African Union at the beginning of this month. A Cameroonian Football Confederation official, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed to Agence France Presse, "The African Cup of Nations finals can no longer be played in January. Our borders are closed and no African Union inspection committee can carry out its tasks in this context."