CAF has confirmed the African Nations Football Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon to take place with fans allowed into the stadia with COVID-19 measures implemented.

Initially scheduled to have taken place in April 2020, the tournament was postponed to early 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic.

It is now set to run from January 16 to February 7 2021.

According to the Journal du Cameroon, the Sports and Physical Education Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi was informed of this decision during a working visit to the Amadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé.

Mouelle Kombi stated that during group matches, the stadiums will be filled at 25 per cent capacity.

“CAF has delivered a satisfactory certificate to Cameroon in which she indicates the percentage of stadia occupation in line with health exigencies outlines by FIFA,” said Mouelle Kombi.

“Twenty five per cent of spectators will be admitted in the different stadia during the first phase of the competition, that is group matches.”

He suggested that this could rise to 50 per cent in the knockout phases of the competition.

In a previous stadium visit in Douala, Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute added that he was “sure” that by the time the competition starts, the COVID-19 situation in Africa will have improved.

To date, there have been more than 26,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cameroon, resulting in the deaths of 448 people.

The cities of Yaounde, Douala and Limbe are set to host matches at the Championship.

CHAN is one of two international continental men’s football competitions sanctioned by CAF along with the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Africa Cup of Nations allows all players who play internationally for African teams to compete, while the CHAN only permits players involved in domestic leagues to compete.

Cameroon’s side will be solely made up of Cameroonian players playing football in their home league.

Source: Ghanasoccernet

All 48 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers between November 9 and 17 will be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic, a Confederation of African Football (CAF) statement said Friday.

While Africa has avoided a second wave of Covid-19 that much of Europe is experiencing, there have been more than 1.8 million official cases and 44,200 deaths in the continent, according to an AFP tally.

“Our goal is to ensure uniformity of safety and security operations across Africa, emphasising that matches take place in a safe and secure environment,” said CAF head of security and safety Christian Emeruwa.

“We are aware of the enormous task that lies ahead, in particular to succeed in keeping spectators and fans away from the stadiums.”

The matches will be the first in the crown jewel of African football since last November when the first two Cup of Nations matchdays were played.

Another two matchdays are scheduled during nine days from this Monday and the final two rounds will be played next March.

There are 12 groups of four teams and the winners and runners-up in all except one qualify for the 2022 tournament in Cameroon.

Five-time African champions Cameroon qualify automatically from Group F because they are the hosts, with the highest placed finishers between Cape Verde, Mozambique and Rwanda filling the other place.

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are taking part in qualifying to achieve competitive match practice rather than rely on friendly internationals.

Algeria are the holders of the Cup of Nations after defeating Senegal 1-0 in the final in Cairo last year through a goal from Baghdad Bounedjah.

The Algerians boast a perfect Group H qualifying record after two rounds having trounced Zambia 5-0 at home before winning 1-0 in Botswana.

Source:  AFP

Cameroon football legend Geremi Njitap says African countries must not be allowed to stage Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic.

There have been reports that Senegal and Guinea-Bissau were “discussing” moving back-to-back matches during November from Dakar and Bissau to Portugal.

Senegal had to postpone at the last minute this month a warm-up match when eight of the visiting Mauritania delegation tested positive for Covid-19.

However, that was the only friendly international in the continent during October to be cancelled while two in Portugal and one in Turkey involving African teams were called off due to coronavirus.

Answering a question from AFP at a videoconference organised by the Netherlands-based global professional footballers’ union FIFPro, Geremi said: “I do not believe CAF will allow that.

“This is an African competition and there is no way matches can be played in Europe,” said the former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Cameroon defender-cum-midfielder and FIFPro board member.

“Of course, staging qualifiers in Europe would be better for most of the players because that is where they are based.

“I have no objection to friendly internationals involving African countries being staged in Europe, but not Cup of Nations nor World Cup qualifiers.

“African football supporters will not accept that — they want to cheer their heroes on even if the numbers at grounds may be severely limited by the pandemic.”

FIFPro general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann warned that health protocols “do not change one bit” whether matches are staged in Africa or Europe.

“It is very important to make clear that the responsibilities and obligations of federations in terms of health protocols do not change.

“During the international window this month, many footballers in Europe contracted the virus after being with national teams.

“Irrespective of whether matches are staged in Africa or Europe, federations need to do a better job than they did this month when providing health safeguards.

– ‘Big risk’ –

“Otherwise, there is a big risk of many positive cases which can impact on how Africa proceeds with qualifying for the Cup of Nations and World Cup.”

There are 48 Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled between November 9 and 17, including defending champions Algeria playing Zimbabwe at home and away.

Geremi was also asked if he agreed with 1995 World, European and African Footballer of the Year and now Liberia president George Weah that Covid-19 posed a huge threat to African football.

“Football is more than a religion in Africa and an Africa without football is unimaginable,” said the former star who made 118 appearances for the Cameroon national team, the Indomitable Lions.

“Kids love football, and many poor families see the sport as a path to a better life if a child can develop their talents and secure a professional contract.

“Governments and companies cannot stop putting money into football,” he said, reacting to the fears of Weah that there will be a “large drop-off” in funding from the public and private sectors.

“Where these (sponsorships) no longer exist, many clubs will collapse and leagues will close permanently,” Weah told a recent videoconference organised by the Africa Sports Ventures group.

“It is my considered opinion that the future of sport in Africa is bleak, and not guaranteed to recover,” said the ex-Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City and Marseille forward.

“Health and economic recovery take absolute priority, however it is important that the global funding being raised should recognise the social importance of sport.”

Source: AFP

The meeting between the Cameroonian football legend and the Chadian Head of State took place on Thursday, October 15, 2020 in N’djamena, on the sidelines of a tournament for the detection of young talents for which the former La Liga “pichichi” was the special guest.

Samuel Eto’o Fils was received in audience at the presidential palace of N’djamena, by President, Idriss Deby Itno. The “pichichi” and the Chadian head of state exchanged at length on the issue of the development of football in Chad, with the construction of a football school in the Chadian capital, the fruit of a partnership between the Chadian state and the Samuel Eto’o Foundation.

The avenues of a partnership was also explored between Samuel Eto’o’s organisation and the “Grand Coeur” Foundation of the Chadian first lady Hinda Deby Itno, whom the former Barcelona man also met after his audience with the president.

At the end of the tournament, Eto’o selected 15 young Chadians who will benefit from a two-year training scholarship at the Kadji Sports Academy (KSA) in Douala, where he himself was moulded before flying to Europe.

By Rita Akana

The Confederation of African Football has made the decision to move the African Cup of Nations to January 2022.

The tournament was supposed to take place in January 2021, but the coronavirus pandemic has caused the postponement of plans.

All African footballers including Liverpool stars such as Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, and Naby Keita will therefore not miss any part of the next season due to international duty.

This will come as good news for Liverpool fans – the African Cup of Nations has been officially postponed until January 2022.

In a meeting today, the Confederation of African Football made the decision to postpone AFCON by a year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The tournament was originally planned to take place in January 2021 but has now been pushed back a year.

Source: Tribuna.com

Top African football officials will hold a video conference Tuesday to discuss the way forward amid the coronavirus pandemic, which halted football last March apart from in Burundi.

Issues to be discussed by CAF president Ahmad Ahmad and his executive include the 24-team Africa Cup of Nations, which is scheduled for Cameroon from January 9 to February 6.

“We dearly want the Cup of Nations to go ahead as planned next January and February,” acting CAF general secretary Abdelmounaim Bah told AFP.

African countries have suffered to varying degrees from the pandemic with South Africa the hardest hit among those south of the Sahara.

By late Saturday the most industrialised country in the continent had reported 131,800 COVID-19 cases and 2,413 deaths.

Here  updates the situation regarding the five major national team and club competitions:

World Cup

The first group fixtures among 40 contenders for five places at the 2022 finals in Qatar were supposed to be played last March and then pushed back to October.

Now, those scheduled for both October and November are sure to be delayed until sometime next year amid a scramble to complete 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.

African champions Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo are seeded to win the four-team mini-leagues.

In November 2021, at the earliest, there will be five home-and-away ties among the group table-toppers with the winners securing flights to Doha.

Africa Cup of Nations

There are four rounds of qualifying to go for the tournament next January and February in Cameroon, the central African country which last hosted the tournament in 1972.

That means two rounds each must be played in the October 5-13 and November 9-17 FIFA windows to deliver 23 finalists plus automatic qualifiers Cameroon.

If only the November window is available, the qualifying could still be completed if the organisers scrap results from the first two rounds and choose one of two other options.

CAF could create two home-and-away ties in each group with the overall winners qualifying, or play single-round mini-leagues with the first two finishers in each flying to Yaounde.

African Nations Championship

Cameroon were also due to host the 16-nation tournament reserved for footballers playing in their country of birth, but the virus forced the April 4-25 finals to be postponed.

While finding new dates is going to be a challenge, the Nations Championship is not dependent on an international window as foreign-based professionals are not involved.

Defending champions Morocco are due to defend a title they won for the first time two years ago by overwhelming 10-man Nigeria 4-0 in rain-lashed Casablanca.

Togo, the only first-time qualifiers, have been dealt a massive blow by the death this month of star forward Kossi Koudagba, 25, from malaria.

CAF Champions League

There are two scenarios for completing the 2019/2020 edition of the elite club competition, which has reached the semi-finals stage with two survivors each from Morocco and Egypt.

CAF says option one is playing the home-and-away semi-finals on July 31-August 2 and August 7-9 and the one-leg final in Cameroonian port city Douala on August 28.

The second option is staging the semi-finals on September 4-6 and September 11-13 with the final on September 25.

Casablanca clubs Raja and Wydad will enjoy home advantage first against Cairo outfits Zamalek and record eight-time African champions Al Ahly respectively in the penultimate stage.

CAF Confederation Cup

There are also two scenarios for the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League with the two sets of semi-finals dates the same as those of the Champions League.

If CAF go with the first option, the final in Moroccan capital Rabat is scheduled for August 23, and if the second scenario comes into play the title decider will be on September 23.

Renaissance Berkane, Confederation Cup runners-up to Zamalek last season after a penalty shootout, face fellow Moroccan club Hassania Agadir in the semi-finals.

Pyramids FC, a rapidly rising Egyptian club thanks in part to a massive injection of Saudi and Emirati funds to buy players, tackle Horoya of Guinea in the other half of the draw.

Algeria pose before defeating Senegal in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final in Cairo to win the competition a second time.

Source: AFP