Yaoundé (AFP)
The African Cup of Nations (CAN) football in Cameroon in 2021 will be played in winter instead of summer, a return to the situation that prevailed before the last edition of the competition in Egypt, announced on Wednesday the Cameroonian Federation football (Fecafoot).
The CAN "will be played in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6", we read on the official Facebook page of Fecafoot, which adds: "Date modified for meteorological reasons at the request of Cameroon".
Historically, the normal period of competition was in January and February, before the president of the African Football Confederation (CAN) Ahmad Ahmad changed this, to everyone's surprise, barely elected in 2017 to succeed Cameroonian Issa Hayatou.
He then announced that the flagship competition for African football would take place in the 2019 edition in Egypt, summer and no longer winter.
Wednesday's announcement is therefore a turnaround.
The holding of the CAN in winter before 2017 irritated European clubs - notably in France and England whose championships use many African players - very reluctant to let their African players leave in high season.
This return to a CAN in winter also comes when Fifa has expressed its desire to make room in summer for the future Club World Cup.
The first edition of this new competition is to take place in June 2021 in China, with 24 teams on the program, according to a reform wanted by the president of the international football federation Gianni Infantino.
However, CAF has been placed under the supervision of "a mission" of Fifa and its leaders Gianni Infantino / Fatma Samoura since August 1, following suspicions of corruption that splash the current president of CAF , Ahmad Ahmad.
The decision to advance the dates of the CAN to the beginning of the year 2021 should not fail to raise the question of the full sovereignty of CAF.
© 2020 AFP