Four-time African player of the year and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o wants the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainty of the future.
The Africa Cup of Nations is the latest international sporting event to be debated upon concerning rescheduling.
The 2021 tournament is set to be hosted by Cameroon who were originally set to host the 2019 edition before the Confederation of African Football (CAF) handed the rights to Egypt saying Cameroon were not ready to host the continental showpiece.
Egypt hosted the first ever AFCON tournament in summer, but CAF have returned the competition to the winter slot, something clubs in Europe do not fancy.
Eto’o insists that health should come first before football.
“The most important thing is health, and the African football authorities have understood that. I don’t see my elder brother Ahmad risking the health of football lovers for an Africa Cup of Nations,” former Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o said.
Algeria’s Adlene Guedioura, a member of Algeria’s AFCON 2019 winning squad also feels the tournament in 2021 should be cancelled or postponed.
“I know that Africa Cup of Nations is important and it’s good for the countries to organise it, but this one in 2021, I think it should be cancelled or postponed,” Guedioura said.
There are four rounds of AFCON qualifying games left yet to be played and this is a cause for worry among football stakeholders on the continent.
President of the Senegalese Football Association Augustin Senghor in an internal CAF newsletter talked about how difficult it will be to have the qualifying games completed before September.
“If we have trouble organising the qualifiers before September, it would be difficult to hold the final tournament next January,” Augustin Senghor wrote.
With some African leagues yet to decide on what to do, CAF president Ahmad Ahmad will be under a lot of pressure to make a decision on the tournament.