The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations has been officially postponed, which means clubs don’t have to worry about key players leaving during the season, MySportDab reports.
The African tournament was due to be held from January 2021 for one month in Cameroon.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) officially confirmed the decision in a Committee meeting on Tuesday, as Africa continues to battle the coronavirus spread.
Some Premier League clubs like Liverpool previously expressed their disappointment at the decision which would affect the season.
Key players like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were set to represent Egypt and Senegal respectively, while Naby Keita would have played for Guinea.
But the 2021 AFCON tournament has now been delayed for another 12 months.
This means that clubs will keep all their key players for January 2021 without any further concerns.
Arsenal and Chelsea will also benefit from the decision, with Nicolas Pepe and Blues new signing Hakim Ziyech, due to play for Ivory Coast and Morocco respectively.
However, The delay is a huge blow for Cameroon who were set to host the event after missing out on the 2019 tournament.
Cameroon will still keep their hosting rights once the tournament returns in 2022.
Decisions of CAF Executive Meeting – 30 June 2020#TotalAFCON #TotalCHAN pic.twitter.com/Z6Lj3bS2qY
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 30, 2020
The decision comes due to the uncertain impact of the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions in place.
The 2022 AFCON Qualification is still yet to be completed and there is still uncertainty about how the remaining four rounds of matches will be played.
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