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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rearranged the dates for the continent’s qualifying campaigns for the 2022 World Cup and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, reports.
According to BBC Sport, the move follows Wednesday’s decision to move the CAF 2021 AFCON in Cameroon from June-July to January-February.
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The AFCON qualifiers had been due to begin in August but will now start in March.
Qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup have been moved to October to accommodate the change.
Two rounds of AFCON qualifiers will hold in March, with one round in June prior to the final qualifying period from 31 August-8 September.
Once the 24 teams for next year’s AFCON has been determined, World Cup qualifiers will begin in October – with another round following the next month.
The draw for the group stage of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers will hold on 21 January.
On Wednesday it was decided that the 2021 AFCON will begin on January 9th due to the adverse weather conditions in Cameroon in June and July, when there is likely to be more humidity and rainfall.
The change back to a January start for the AFCON means that the tournament will not clash with the expanded Club World Cup, being held in China in June 2021.
By James Agberebi
