CAN 2021 is off to a start. The CAF major tournament cannot be played between January 9 and February 6, since the eliminations for this event cannot be completed in time.
The work of the FIFA Council held on Thursday by videoconference resulted in the cancellation of the FIFA dates scheduled for next September.
In addition to the CAF, three other Confederations are affected by these provisions, namely those of Asia (AFC), Central and Latin America (CONCAF) and Oceania. On the other hand, in Europe (UEFA) and in South America (Conmebol), the interselection competition was maintained.
FIFA’s decision will have to be ratified on the 30th of September during the CAF executive committee meeting by videoconference, where it will be a question of settling once and for all on the future of the various tournaments and events organized under the umbrella of the continental body and which have been suspended since last March because of the worldwide outbreak of the pandemic of the new coronavirus.
Note that FIFA has decided to extend the international dates by 7 days in June 2021, in favor of the three Confederations which will have their playoffs suspended next September, so that the update of the program may contain four meetings at the place of two.
A situation that corroborates the statement made a few days ago by the Secretary General of the African Football Confederation, the Moroccan Abdelmounaim Bah, who had mentioned the possibility of postponing the CAN 2021 until January-February 2022, arguing that “play in June / July in Cameroon it is difficult because of the climatic conditions.
In addition, in June / July 2021, there are already many competitions with the Euro and Copa America. So the best time to postpone the CAN would be January 2022 “.
In the race for the Cameroonian CAN, the National Eleven appears in group E alongside the selections of Mauritania, Central African Republic and Burundi.
The EN had started its qualification campaign badly, being hooked at home, and against all odds, by the Mauritania team (0-0), before recovering by winning on the move on Burundi by 3 to 0.
In addition, the endorsement of the FIFA Council which has announced in its resolutions the announcement of a new competition, the Pan Arab Cup of Selections, should be underlined.
It will be modeled on the CHAN model where only local players can take part, knowing that the participation of African and Asian teams in this tournament scheduled from December 1 to 18, 2021 in Qatar will be by invitation.
A Pan-Arab Cup which will take place outside the FIFA windows and which should be an excellent test for Qatar one year from the holding of the 2022 World Cup.
Substantial aid to federations
Fifa released a 1.5 billion dollar aid fund to federations on Thursday in the form of grants and loans to cope with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis, its president Gianni Infantino announced on Thursday.
Each of the 211 member federations can receive USD 1 million and additional assistance of USD 500,000 can be allocated to help women’s football.
Other assistance will be available in the form of interest-free loans, which may reach up to 35% of the income of each federation. The minimum amount of each loan will be US $ 500,000 and the maximum will be US $ 5 million. In addition, each Confederation will be able to receive a loan of 4 M USD.
“We will exercise strict control over the use of funds, with audits, and there will be very clear reimbursement conditions,” said Infantino.
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