AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) has cancelled the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations tournament which was to be hosted by Morocco from March 13-31 2021.
The development comes after a decision by the CAF Emergency Committee that sat on Monday to discuss developments regarding stringent travel protocols the Morocco government has imposed on several countries in fear of COVID-19.
Last week Morocco suspended all flights to and from several countries as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. Some of the countries that Morocco imposed a ban include Italy and Belgium.
All flights between Morocco and Denmark, Brazil, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine were also suspended.
The CAF committee noted that taking into account the cancellation by FIFA of the Under-17 World Cup for which the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations tournament was no longer qualifying, it was also important that the event is cancelled because of the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased restrictions on international travel and uncertainty about the evolution of the situation.
“The Committee was made aware of the constraints faced by some of the participating member associations as well as the host country, including the fact that the coronavirus pandemic continues to present significant challenges for the organisation of international sporting events,” a CAF statement noted.
The Tanzania’s national U-17 team, Serengeti Boys, who qualified to represent the CECAFA zone, had already camped in Morocco for the tournament preparations.
Serengeti Boys had been put in Group B that also consisted of Nigeria, Algeria and Congo-Brazzaville while Group A had Morocco, Ivory Coast and Zambia.
Defending champions Cameroon who were crowned in Tanzania in 2019, were set to meet South Africa, Mali and Senegal in Group C in the 12-team tournament.
The next U-17 Africa Cup of Nations tournament is scheduled for April 2023.
The best four nations from that tournament will represent Africa at the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Peru.
