Infantino Backs Cancellation Of AFCON 2021

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has revealed that the World Football Governing Body is still in consultation with the organisers of the AFCON to postpone it to September.

It is less than three weeks to the continent’s biggest football event, but there is no guarantee yet if the competition will hold on the scheduled date.

In recent time they’ve been opposition to the tournament from Europe, especially in England where clubs frown at releasing some of their best players at a crucial time of the season.

More so with spreading Omicron variant of coronavirus outbreaks, clubs in Europe are skeptical about releasing their players for the fiesta in Cameroon.

However, CAF had quickly dismissed the report and insisted that AFCON 2021 would proceed as planned, despite report emerging from France last week suggesting CAF was looking to cancel the competition.

But FIFA President Gianni Infantino, at the FIFA Global Summit on Monday, noted that the AFCON is an important tournament, but playing it in January has become a problem revealing that top administrator is discussing the possibility of having AFCON at a time when it would be convenient for the major stakeholders involved.

Infantino in an interview with Tuttosport the FIFA President said: “The African Cup is a competition which is played every years, we understand the importance of this Cup.”

“Until a few years ago, nobody cared that it was played in winter. Now, it has become a problem because many African players play in big clubs, which lose them in the highlight of the season.”

“If we can reschedule the calendar and make sure an African Nations Cup is played in the big international window in September, rather than January or February, we would have solved a problem for so many leagues that have African players.”

“It is part of the process we are talking about. I don’t like to talk about wars or enemies, but about trail. It is important to seek the best solution together.”

This article was updated 1 year ago