The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has postponed the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers scheduled for 25 – 31 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
CAF in a statement on Friday said the move was prompted by Thursday’s declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) that COVID-19 is a pandemic.
Also postponed are the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup qualifiers and Total Women’s AFCON 2020 qualifiers.
The decision by CAF follows a similar move by UEFA to postpone Champions League matches scheduled for next week.
Many other sporting events have also been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including domestic soccer leagues, Formula 1 and NBA.
The COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in Africa, with Kenya, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Gabon the latest countries to confirm cases.
The COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in the city of Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, in December 2019. Experts have attributed the outbreak to a novel coronavirus that has since spread across China and abroad with confirmed cases exceeding 132,000 globally.
According to WHO, 123 countries and territories have confirmed cases, and at least 5,000 people have lost their lives.
