The Africa Cup of Nations has reverted to the old January calendar after the next host, Cameroon, confirmed that the continental biggest football bonanza will be staged in January/February.
The event that was last held in June in Egypt has been pushed back by six months from June/July because of “unfavourable” weather in the country at that time of year.
The decision was reached after of Cameroonian FA officials and CAF executives.
The good thing, though, is that the latest announcement means that the event will not clash with the Club World Cup set to be staged in China in June.
It will, however, be frowned on by some English Premier League clubs that could miss their top stars at the time.
“It [2021 AFCON] will be played in Cameroon from 9 January to 6 February, 2021. Date changed for weather reasons at Cameroon’s request,” the Cameroon FA tweeted, announcing this major change in the calendar following meeting a with representatives from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Wednesday that was also attended by Caf boss Ahmad Ahmed.
June/July is the wettest season in most tropical countries with an average temperature of above 26 Celsius though February is the warmest month in Yaounde, with an average high-temperature of 31°C (87.8°F) and an average low-temperature of 20.3°C (68.5°F), according to Weather.atlas.com
It is not yet clear whether the tournament will officially revert to the traditional January/February calendar for good or whether Caf will go back to the June/July system after Cameroon.
But there are fears that even the next edition after Cameroon, to be hosted by Guinea in 2025, might also take place in January/February as both countries experience almost a similar weather pattern.
Algeria are the current title holders after they beat Senegal in the final in Egypt.
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