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CAF president Ahmad Ahmad has told French newspaper, Le Monde Afrique, that the 2020 Chan finals won’t be played in Cameroon in June and the future of football is at the crossroads because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Question: Football is today largely impacted by the coronavirus crisis which has affected almost all African countries . . .

Ahmad: Indeed, the sport has stopped. In this very difficult period football must take second place in the face of the scale of this health crisis.

However, in our sector, we had to make certain necessary decisions. First, the medical committee at Caf made its analysis and, more generally, we followed the instructions of the World Health Organisation.

We decided to postpone the qualifying matches for Afcon 2021, scheduled for the end of March. Lots of federations contacted us and, in any case, with the suspension of numerous airlines, African players confined in Europe, this decision was self-imposed. We will wait to decide when we will play days three and four of the Afcon 2021 qualifiers.

The fifth day was scheduled for June, it is still too early to decide if it will take place, but we still have dates in September, October and November, even if it means postponing the first day of qualification for the 2022 World Cup, scheduled precisely in November.

We will discuss this with Fifa, which seems open to the various adjustments to the calendar. As I speak, the final phase of Afcon 2021 is still scheduled for next January and February.

Question: What can you tell us today about the Chan 2020, originally scheduled for Cameroon from April 4 to 25, and which has of course been postponed. Will it take place?

Ahmad: Our desire is to play all competitions including, of course, the African Nations Championship. It is obviously too early to decide whether we will play it in 2020 or 2021. The only thing that seems obvious is that Chan will not be able to take place in Cameroon in June and July, due to weather conditions.

Question: Europe has suspended the Champions League and the Europa League. In Africa, are we moving towards the same decision for the Champions League and the Confederation Cup, whose semi-finals and finals were initially scheduled for May?

Ahmad: This is obviously part of the assumptions. The semi-finals are scheduled for early May. We will adapt according to the health situation.
If the schedule needs to be changed, we will. Almost every day, I have discussions with the secretariat of Caf and with the federations. In any case, we will be able to adapt.

Question: African football seems to mobilise every day a little more to fight against this epidemic . . .

Ahmad: Many presidents of federations are involved. This is also the case for their administrative staff, particularly in the area of prevention.

I also learned that some players have given money, like the Senegalese Sadio Mané who offered 45 000 euros to hospitals in his country.

Others also helped by sending powerful messages to advise people to stay at home. All these initiatives are remarkable, I am proud of this mobilisation of African football. — Le Monde Afrique