CAF postpones Nigeria, G’Bissau AFCON qualifiers

After a number of months of uncertainty that has shrouded Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations double-header clashes towards Guinea Bissau, the Confederation of African Soccer on Sunday confirmed that the video games between the 2 nations have been postponed.

The second section of the AFCON qualifiers was initially scheduled for September, however it suffered a postponement with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar holding for the primary time within the latter a part of the 12 months, between November and December.

In accordance with a press release launched by the African physique, matchdays three and 4 that had been scheduled for September have now been pushed to March 2023 to permit African groups which have certified for the 2022 World Cup to organize adequately.

“The Confederation of African Soccer Government Committee has accredited a revised Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 revised qualification calendar,” learn a part of the assertion on CAF’s official web site.

“This was necessitated by the Government Committee’s dedication to creating room for the African nations which have certified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November/ December 2022 to organize adequately.”

The assertion continued: “Consequently, the September 2022 Africa Cup of Nations match day three and match day 4 qualifiers have been moved to March 20-28, 2023.

“Match-day 5 will now be on June 12-20, 2023 whereas match day six can be performed on September 4-12, 2023.”

This choice got here only a month after CAF had postponed the thirty fourth version of Africa’s greatest soccer showpiece scheduled to carry in Ivory Coast from June 2023 to January 2024.

The Tremendous Eagles are at the moment high of Group A with six factors.

The three-time African champions started the qualifiers with a 2-1 win over Sierra Leone earlier than trouncing Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 in matchday two fixtures.

Ghana, who beat Nigeria to the World Cup slot, are additionally affected by the qualifier postponement. Their fixture towards Angola has additionally been moved to subsequent 12 months.

The Black Stars high Group E with 4 factors from two video games.

South Africa, who’re in Group Okay, have additionally seen their fixture towards Liberia placed on maintain owing to the newest choice by CAF.