CAF Cancels U-17 AFCON As Omari Becomes President
By Amaechi Agbo
The Confederation of Africa Football, CAF Monday took sweeping decisions including the cancellation of the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Championship as well as appointing Constant Omari as its new president, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can report
The decisions were part of resolutions CAF reached in an Emergency Committee meeting held to consider developing situations concerning Africa football.
CAF U-17 AFCON is due to kick-off this Saturday in Morocco.
Announcing the cancellation, CAF noted that the constraints faced by some of the participating member associations as well as the host country including the fact that the coronavirus pandemic continues to present significant challenges for the organization of international sporting events, is one major reason the competition has to be called off.
Taking into account the cancellation by FIFA of the U-17 World Cup for which the U-17 AFCON was no longer qualifying, the Committee further noted the resurgence of the Covid19 pandemic which necessitated increased restrictions on international travel as well as Uncertainty about the evolution of the situation.
For all these reasons, the Committee decided to cancel the 2021 edition of the Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Meanwhile, following the the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the appeal filed by Mr. Ahmad Ahmad against the decision of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee which reduced the ban on Ahmad from football-related activities from five to two years, Mr. Constant Omari, the First Vice-President of CAF, took over the headship of CAF on an interim basis until the election of a new President at the 43rd General Assembly.
Article 24 paragraph 8 of the CAF Statutes provides that in an event of the President’s absence or temporal inability to perform his duties, he be replaced by the first Vice-President.
CAF will hold elections into its presidency and other positions on Friday with South Africa’s billionaire, Patrice Motsepe set to become Ahmad’s successor.
