BEVERLY HILLS, May 06, (THEWILL) – There are signs that show improvements in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic across sports, of which football is no exception.
However, even as COVID-19 restrictions in place since the pandemic broke out globally are being relaxed in certain regions, world football governing body, FIFA, is not unaware of the need for extra caution in some regions.
As a result, on Thursday, FIFA confirmed that in conjunction with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and taking into consideration the current disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure optimal playing conditions for all teams, decided to postpone the African qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️ that were due to be played in June 2021.
THEWILL recalls that in March, FIFA had to step in to grant the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) permission to suspend the double date of the Qatar 2022 qualifications, taking into cognisance the impossibility of having all the South American players in a timely manner to execute their qualification matches due to travel restrictions on the majority of their footballers, enforced because of the pandemic.
The world cup qualifiers are now scheduled to take place in the existing windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
