CAF Announces Draws Calendar And Modifications
CAF has announced the draws calendar for continental competitions coming up in 2022. In addition, the football mother body has modified the dates for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
According to an official CAF media release, the draw for the group stages of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will be held on the 19th of April. The preliminary qualifying round was concluded last week. Kenya and Zimbabwe are currently suspended from international football. As it stands, both countries will not be part of the draw.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations draw is set for the 22nd of April in the tournament host country, Morocco. Twelve nations, including debutants Botswana, will go into the bowls.
CHAN 2023 qualifiers are scheduled to kick off in July this year. The draw for the tournament, to be played in Algeria, is set for the 28th of a busy April for the CAF Competitions officials.
CAF also revealed modifications to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers matchday dates. Originally, four matchdays had been scheduled for 30 May to 14 June. Only two matchdays will be played during this period. Tunisia had already complained about the original schedule.
Matchdays two and three will now be played between 19 and 27 September, with the final two qualifying game days now set for 20-28 March 2023.
The re-scheduling of the qualifiers will help the five African countries that qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup get more time to prepare for the global tournament.
