- The matches were scheduled to be played in September
- CAF says the decision is to allow African teams prepare for the World Cup
- The matches will now be played next year
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the postponement of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches that were to be played in September.
In a statement, CAF said that an Executive Committee meeting affirmed the decision to give African teams heading to the World Cup ample time to train and prepare, to represent the continent well.
“This was necessitated by the Executive Committee’s commitment to make room for the African nations that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November/ December 2022 to prepare adequately,” a statement from CAF stated.
The matches, which would have counted for match day three and four, have now been moved to 20-28 March 2023. Match day five will now be on 12-20 June 2023 while match day six will be played on 4-12 September 2023.
Decision to postpone welcomed with open arms
Senegal players celebrate in the dressing room after making it to Qatar
The decision has been received with open arms by the teams headed to the World Cup as it will narrow their focus to just preparing for the World Cup. Africa will be represented by AFCON champions Senegal, Morocco, Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia.
Senegal have been drawn in Group A with hosts Qatar, Ecuador, and Netherlands, Tunisia are in Group D with Australia, France and Denmark, Morocco are in Group F with Belgium, Canada and Croatia.
Cameroon are in Group G with Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia while Ghana have been drawn in Group H with Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea.
Most of the teams will use the FIFA window in September to play friendly matches and mini tournaments to fine tune for the World Cup that will be staged in Qatar for the first time ever.
No African country has ever gone past the quarter finals and there is belief that this time round, the hoodoo will be broken.
Meanwhile, CAF also earlier announced that next year’s Africa Cup of Nations which was initially scheduled for June 23 to July 23, 2023 have been pushed to January 2024 due to the weather conditions in the West African country.
Deliberations held to postpone AFCON
CAF boss Patrice Motsepe with Cameroonian officials
“It is after deliberations we came into the decision, we have partners and even though we make decisions, it is out of respect that we take the advice we are getting that we cannot take a risk to host the tournament and so that is why we have made the necessary announcement,” said Patrice Motsepe, the CAF president.
He added; “It is not good for African football to play a tournament that can be washed out, it is not good for Africa and the continent at large and so we have to postpone it.”
AFCON was switched from the January-February dates to the summer in 2019 after pressure from European leagues, but there was always bound to be challenges especially with the different weather patterns.
This year’s AFCON in Cameroon was also switched to January-February because of the weather. West Africa usually experiences huge amounts of tropical rains during the months of June and July and thus tournaments hosted at this time would face the danger of being washed out.
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