The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has today announced that the second round of the FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifiers will begin in September instead of June as previously scheduled.
This development was confirmed by the CAF Emergency Committee in a dispatch to all Member Associations citing Covid19 fears. The African football governing body said it took the decision in consultation with FIFA “after taking into consideration current challenges caused by the Covid19 pandemic.”
Thus, the qualifiers will now take place during the FIFA windows of September, October and November 2021 and March 2022. The new dates according to CAF would allow participating countries adequate timeframe to optimally prepare ahead of the conditions for the start of the qualifying series.
CAF added that it is reassessing its processes to enhance the implementation of the Covid19 related protocols focusing on pre-match testing which in the past games has been a major challenge.
Africa has five slots at the global event that brings together 32 countries every four years at the world’s prestigious event organised which this time will be hosted by Qatar next year.
Even though The Gambia is not participating in the World Cup qualifiers, Thursday’s announcement by CAF is expected to give the Scorpions technical staff the opportunity to play more preparatory matches with top African sides in the June window as they continue preparations for their maiden appearance at an AFCON finals in Cameroon next year. With Comoros and Kosovo already confirmed, there are solid proposals for the Scorpions to also face Mauritania and Tunisia as well.