BY ANDREW EKEJIUBA
The West Africa Football Union (WAFU) has confirmed the postponement of the Zone A U-17 men’s youth tournament for the second time.
The WAFU Zone A U-17 was earlier scheduled to kick off in October in Sierra Leone but was postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19.
Logistical constraints were blamed for the recent postponement of the tournament.
This is the second time the tournament which serves as the regional qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2021 has been postponed.
It was scheduled to take place last October but was rescheduled due to COVID-19 outbreak.
WAFU stated in a letter to its affiliated federations, “Despite the organizations’ (CAF, WAFU-A and SLFA) efforts and various diligence maintained over the last few weeks, it was impossible to overcome the problems and ensure that our event met the requirements demanded.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sierra Leone Football Association for their cooperation throughout the process.
“Information about the new date will be announced later,” the release further stated.
Six nations namely host Sierra Leone, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, and Mauritania have confirmed their participation in the tournament, with the draw yet to be conducted.
Meanwhile, Egypt could possibly not play the U-20 North African Championship after 17 cases of coronavirus was discovered before their opening game.
The Young Pharaohs are currently in Tunisia preparing for the competition before the new development was revealed.
Coach Rabie Yassin travelled to Tunisia with 24 players for the competition which serves as qualifier to the Africa Cup of Nations 2021 in Mauritania.
The whole team and coaching staff underwent a mandatory PCR test and discovered 17 positive cases among their 26 players as well as head coach Yassin.
This news comes just 24 hours before they start their journey in the tournament against Libya, meaning that they couldn’t possibly compete.
However, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has managed to secure another round of tests after contacting the Tunisian authorities.
The other nations that are set to participate in the tournament are hosts Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
