the President of the African Football Confederation visiting Cameroon

The president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) arrived Monday, December 20 in Cameroon, where the African Cup of Nations (CAN) is to be held, from January 9 to February 6. This coming comes as the rumor is spreading insistence of a cancellation or a new postponement of the flagship competition of African football, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The South African Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF, is to meet the Cameroonian president, Paul Biya, and visit the Olembé stadium, in Yaoundé, where the opening match of the competition is to take place, according to the Cameroonian Federation. football club on his Facebook page. “We are very clear about our commitment to make [de la CAN] a success in Cameroon ”Patrice Motsepe told reporters.

Last week, the European Association of Clubs (ECA) threatened not to release international players for the CAN, worrying about the health protocol of the event against the backdrop of a pandemic. On Thursday, the government and CAF therefore announced that supporters must be fully vaccinated and test negative to attend matches. But the ECA pointed out above all the risk of an absence of internationals longer than the period of availability provided for, due to the “Quarantines and movement restrictions” linked in particular to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

The sending of this letter from the ECA to FIFA came as rumors accumulate around a possible cancellation of the CAN or a new postponement of the tournament, initially scheduled for 2021 but postponed by a year due to the pandemic. In 2014 in Addis Ababa, Cameroon was designated host country for CAN 2019. In January 2019, CAF estimated that the country was not ready to host the competition and awarded the organization to Egypt. . The CAN was finally to be held in Cameroon in 2021 but had been postponed for a year due to the epidemic linked to the coronavirus.