The 2021 African Cup of Nations, which was earlier postponed till January 2022, may not hold as rescheduled after all. According to a recent FIFA hypothesis, international matches will not hold this year again due to the Coronavirus, which means the qualifying series for the African Nations Cup will only start next year.
The tournament was originally scheduled to hold in June and July 2021, but CAF announced on January 15, 2020 that due to unfavourable climatic conditions during this period, the tournament would take place between January 9 and February 6, 2021. But as FIFA is not inclined to organise any international matches this year, the participants in the competition will not be known until late 2021.
Victor Montagliani, who is the president of the Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean Football (CONCACAF), as well as FIFA vice president, told the Associated Press (AP) of his doubts over the possibility of reviewing international football in 2020.
FIFA already has called off matches between countries that were due to be played in March and June. Montagliani believes the September, October and November windows for national team matches could be scrapped.
Consequently, AFCON 2021 will not be able to hold at least at the beginning of the year. By postponing the dates of international competitions to give more time to clubs, FIFA will oblige CAF to replace matches counting for the AFCON qualifiers only in 2021, according to Cameroun Tribune. Nigeria is grouped alongside fellow West African nations, Benin and Sierra Leone, plus Lesotho, with the winner and runner-up qualifying for the African Cup of Nations.
