Women Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers have been postponed, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced.
“CAF Organising Committee of Women Football decided to postpone the qualifiers of the women Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2022, in line with the postponement of the men World Cup qualifiers.
“The reasons of the postponement were based on the actual conditions of certain stadiums in Africa and the restrictions related to Covid-19.
“The 1st round will now take place in the FIFA window of 18 to 26 October 2021 and the second round will take place in the FIFA window of 14 to 23rd February 2022,” CAF Deputy General Secretary Anthony Baffoe wrote to all member associations.
Earlier this year, CAF Emergency Committee, in consultation with FIFA, postponed the CAF qualifiers for the World Cup Qatar 2022 that were due to be played in June 2021.
CAF cited Covid-19 challenges and and ‘the need to ensure the optimal playing conditions for all participating teams’ as the reasons for the postponement.
The qualifiers will now take place in the existing windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022.