By Aminah Makumbi
The Confederation of African Football has set November as the possible return of international football on the continent.
The 2021 AFCON qualifiers are scheduled to herald the big comeback. But, that will depend on authorities, across the continent, providing the final say. The 2022 World Cup qualifiers are also scheduled to begin in May next year and end in November.
Uganda top group B in AFCON qualifiers on 4 points garnered in 2 games, level with Burkina Faso .Also pitted in group E with neighbors Kenya, Rwanda and Mali for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
CAF have indicated they will be monitoring the coronavirus situation.
“The 40 teams in contention for the five slots for Qatar 2022 will commence the journey between 31 May and 15 June 2021 with the Day 1 and 2 matches,’’ the organization said in a statement.
“From August 30th till September 7th, the Day 3 and 4 matches are expected to take place with Day 5 and 6 matches fixed for 4-12 October 2021.
“The play-off matches have been scheduled for November 8th -16th 2021.
“Meanwhile, CAF is monitoring the situation closely and working with the relevant authorities with regards to hosting of the matches, and will make pronouncements accordingly in the event of developments that will affect playing a match at the designated venue.’’
According to CAF, the Uganda Cranes are expected to return to the international stage in November with back-to-back clashes against African champions South Sudan for the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.
The finals of the tournament have been moved to January 2022. A new calendar unveiled by CAF yesterday show that Uganda Cranes will now face the South Sudan between November 9th and November 17th this year.
“The CAF Emergency Committee has approved the resumption date for qualifiers of the Total Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 and the group stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” the organization said in a statement.
“A busy schedule awaits the participating teams with double-headers from November 2020 through to November 2021 in the battle for spots to the final tournament of the two competitions.
“The schedules for the two competitions have had to be revised in light of the Covid-19 outbreak, which halted many sporting activities across the continent and beyond, for some time.
“For Cameroon 2021, the qualifiers resume on November 9-17th 2020 with the Day 3 and 4 matches whilst the penultimate and ultimate matches take place on March 22-30th 2021.”
