June 29, (THEWILL) – The TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the 17th edition of the continental tournament, was initially planned to take place in Ivory Coast from June 23 to July 23, 2023, but the annual rainfall in key cities in the country is giving organisers cause for concern.
Significant rains and flooding across Ivory Coast exactly a year before the proposed kickoff of the competition has made CAF to seriously consider the wisdom of holding the competition in the thick of the rainy season. Veron Mosengo-Omba, CAF’s Secretary General admitted this in a recent interview: “We are considering it; it is one of the possibilities. We asked Ivorian meteorologists to report to us on rainfall history in Côte d’Ivoire in June and July, but also to share their projections with us.”
It is not viable to move the AFCON to a January–February 2023 window because the 2022 World Cup is scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022 and it will be a tough call for African countries to call players for two important tournaments in a short period of time. A move of the tournament to between January and February 2024 appears to be the most likely alternative.
The situation will be comparable to AFCON 2021 in Cameroon, which started earlier this year after early plans were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.CAF’s 44th Ordinary General Assembly will take place in August 10 in Arusha, Tanzania, and one of the highly anticipated subjects of discussion will be the continental game.
Senegal won the championship for the first time in history in Cameroon after defeating Egypt on penalties in the championship game.
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.
