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CAF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO DECIDE ON POTENTIALLY CHAOTIC WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS ON MAY 15

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Following a spate of disqualification of stadiums across the continent for the hosting of World Cup qualifying matches, CAF Executive Committee will meet on May 15 to deliberate on the decision of the emergency committee which is proposing that the qualifiers for the World Cup be postponed, especially the first two days of the qualifiers which are due to hold next month.

Next month’s opening 2022 World Cup qualifiers for Africa are suggested to be delayed because a host of stadiums lack CAF approval.

The last-minute postponement is being prompted by the absence of stadiums approved by CAF in 22 of the confederation’s 54 member countries.

But the month of June offers most  African countries the best opportunity to have the full complement of theie oversea players since the season in Europe would have ended.

But several football federations in Africa are pressing for postponements as their home arenas may not be ready next month.

 CAF may therefore  postpone the first two days of qualifying from June to September.

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“The CAF emergency committee validated the decision on Monday, we are awaiting the validation of the executive committee” on 15 May, a federation president told AFP.

Other leading figures within African football have confirmed the decision.

When questioned, CAF did not confirm the postponement and announced that it would communicate on the subject “during the day”.

The six qualifying matchdays would be staggered two-by-two in September, October and November.

According to the same sources the play-offs will take place in March after the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in Cameroon, itself initially scheduled for 2021 but pushed back to 2022 by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Countries including Mali, Burkina Faso or 2019 CAN finalists Senegal would not be able to play their home matches in June.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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