Cairo (AFP)

The authorities of African football, disturbed in recent months by the pandemic of new coronavirus, announced Tuesday a revised schedule of competitions with the postponement of one year of the African Cup of Nations, flagship event which will take place in 2022 in Cameroon .

The CAN, initially scheduled in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6, 2021, will finally be played in January 2022, announced the president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) Ahmad Ahmad at a press conference by videoconference at the from the CAF Executive Committee meeting.

"Today the executive committee has taken a number of very important decisions which are guided by a simple rule: health is the top priority," he said, adding that "the peak of the pandemic is not not yet reached "in several countries on the African continent.

- Facilities -

CAF thus followed the examples of its European and South American equivalents which, as of March, postponed their respective flagship competition, the Euro and the Copa America, by one year, now scheduled for the summer of 2021.

The CAN will still take place in Cameroon with 24 teams, while the qualifications started before the pandemic could not be completed.

The next edition of the event will be maintained in 2023 in Côte d'Ivoire, said Mr. Ahmad.

"I'm sure there will always be a CAN in 2023. I don't know when but it will take place," he said when he answered a question about the difficulty of holding the competition in January 2023 as originally planned, as the 2022 World Cup ends in December.

In addition to the postponement of this competition, which takes place every two years, the CAF president also announced calendar arrangements for other African competitions, including the African Nations Championship (CHAN), the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.

The Champions League will be over "this year, probably in September," said President Ahmad, with a location to be determined for the "Final Four" (editor's note).

The Confederation Cup should also be completed this year with a "Final Four" in Morocco.

These last two competitions, African equivalents of the Champions League and the Europa League, were interrupted in March at the semi-finals, due to new coronavirus.

The CHAN 2020 in Cameroon - which pits national teams made up of players playing in their home country - has been postponed to January 2021.

In addition, President Ahmad Ahmad announced the cancellation of the Women's CAN which was to take place in 2020 and which will be replaced in 2021 by a Women's Champions League.

-New female competition-

"I want to express my pride to see the birth of a Women's Champions League on the African continent," said Ahmad, adding that this is a historic decision for African and world football. "

The women's CAN will however be played again in 2022, he said, adding that this competition would serve as a qualification for the Women's World Cup, scheduled for 2023.

Regarding the administrative aspect, the African body must hold its elective General Assembly on March 12, 2021, responsible for appointing a president, announced Mr. Ahmad.

The latter stressed that the holding of this meeting on this date would respect "the timing of four years in office" for the president of the body.

African countries have suffered to varying degrees from the coronavirus pandemic. More than 383,000 people have been infected in sub-Saharan Africa, according to African control and prevention centers.

With the exception of Burundi, all African countries interrupted their competitions in March, as did most of the countries on the planet.

© 2020 AFP