BEVERLY HILLS, March 31, (THEWILL) – The Organising Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the Africa Cup of Nations, on Wednesday, considered the circumstances surrounding the Group L final qualifier match between the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone and the Squirrels of Benin Republic, which did not hold as scheduled on Tuesday.
As reported by THEWILL, the Squirrels, who needed just a point in Freetown to join group winners Nigeria, refused to play the Leone Stars after challenging positive COVID-19 tests for five of their players.
When discussions between both teams and CAF officials failed to resolve the standoff, the match was called off.
The Committee has decided that the match be contested during the next FIFA international window in June 2021.
This decision was reached after reviewing official accounts of the incidents that stopped the match from taking place at the scheduled time in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown.
The rationale to move the dates was based on the fact that the match was to take place on the last day of the international window, which was (as scheduled) on Tuesday and, fixing it on Wednesday could negatively impact on the players’ earlier timetable for returning to their respective clubs.
CAF has passed its decision to the football federations of Sierra Leone and Benin.
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