Bad Weather: Afcon 2021 Tournament Might Be Played in January or February

 

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Ahmad Ahmad has said that the dates to host the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations could be reverted to the old calendar due to unfavorable June and July climatic conditions in the host country Cameroon.

This year, Egypt hosted the tournament in June and July as the tournament was moved from the traditional January and February period.

With rains expected in the middle of the year in Cameroon’s tropical climatic conditions, Ahmad feels it is not conducive to have the Afcon staged then.

“This is because of the different climatic conditions in the continent. I don’t know why the media has forgotten that this was discussed in detail, at the 2017 CAF symposium that we had in Morocco,” Ahmad said before adding.

“In my view, it is not possible, because of the climatic conditions in Cameroon, to stage the Africa Cup of Nations in June/July. This is clear, so we must make a decision on the date,” he added.

The expanded Fifa Club World Cup is the other reason as to why the 2021 Afcon tournament could be revised back to January/February.

The Club World Cup is set to be played from June 17 to July 4 2021, while the Afcon dates have been tentatively set for June 11 to July 9, placing the two tournaments on each other’s way.