CAF CONSIDERS CALLING OFF 2021 AFCON OVER OMICRON VARIANT

Report says the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF, are set to call off the 2021 African Cup of Nations in January amid worries over the Omicron Covid 19 variant. Less than a month remains until the first game of the tournament is due to kick off in Cameroon, but reports in the French media on Wednesday suggested the competition could be cancelled amid concerns from national team coaches.

A number of Premier League teams had been due to lose players for the duration of the tournament, with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revealing talks had been taking place with a view to delaying the release of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita. Now, after a CAF meeting on Wednesday, it is expected the competition will be postponed indefinitely, as first reported by El Balad’s Ismael Mahmoud in Egypt.

AFCON had already been pushed back due to the pandemic, with the tournament initially scheduled for the summer of 2020. But CAF moved it to January 2020, before the pandemic forced the confederation into a one-year delay.