Africa Cup of Nations delayed by a year due to COVID-19
MADRID: Morocco right back Achraf Hakimi is set to join Inter Milan from Real Madrid for 50 million euros (45.71 million pounds) after spending two years on loan at Borussia Dortmund, Spanish newspapers AS and Marca said on Tuesday.
Hakimi was photographed arriving in Milan on Tuesday for a medical and also published a farewell leter to Dortmund on his Instagram account.
The report in AS said the 21-year-old is about to sign a five-year contract with Inter.
A product of Real’s academy, Hakimi made 16 appearances for their first team in the 2017-18 season but his long-term prospects were limited by the consistency of Dani Carvajal and the signing of Spain international Alvaro Odriozola in 2018.
He made 45 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund this season, scoring nine goals and providing 10 assists to help the team finish second in the Bundesliga.
“The moment has come to bring a great period of my life to a close,” Hakimi wrote on Instagram.
“Ater two marvellous years, I have to leave this club which has given me so many happy moments.”
Meanwhile, Valencia fired coach Albert Celades on Monday ater a run of bad results culminated with a defeat by the La Liga club’s biter local rivals Villarreal at the weekend.
Valencia have picked up a meagre four points from a possible 15 since the restart following the coronavirus lockdown, dropping to eighth in the league, eight points off the Champions League qualifying spots.
“Valencia have informed Albert Celades of his immediate release,” a club statement said.
Former caretaker coach Voro has been called in again as a temporary replacement for the sixth time.
Celades took over at the Mestalla last September ater the surprise sacking of previous boss Marcelino, who had led the club to back-to-back fourth-placed finishes.
But Celades has failed to last the season ater Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Villarreal let Valencia with just two wins in 13 matches in all competitions.
Valencia were also knocked out of the Champions League by Atalanta in March ater an 8-4 aggregate defeat in the last 16.
Earlier, Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Odegaard could miss the remainder of the Spanish season ater sustaining a knee injury, local media reports said Tuesday.
CAIRO: Next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon has been postponed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Confederation of African Football announced Tuesday in a video conference.
CAF president Ahmad Ahmad said African football’s governing body took the decision as “health was the main priority”.
African countries have suffered to varying degrees from the pandemic with South Africa the hardest hit among those south of the Sahara, recording more than 144,000 cases, while Egypt has suffered the worst in North Africa with over 66,000 infections.
“The peak of the pandemic has not been reached yet,” Ahmad added.
The Cup of Nations was set to be played in January and February 2021, reverting back to its traditional winter slot ater experimenting with a summer tournament in Egypt last year.
The CAF Champions League will complete its matches in September while the Confederation Cup will wrap up towards the end of this year with a ‘Final Four’ expected to take place in Morocco.
These last two competitions were interrupted in March ahead of the semi-finals phase.
Another tournament that has also been pushed back is the African Nations Championship for domestic-based players. It will kick off in Cameroon in January 2021.
Other CAF special events including its starstudded awards ceremony, featuring the likes of Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, have also been cancelled.
CAF members who atended the meeting did not discuss regional qualification matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ahmad said the current decisions are subject to change with the fluidity of the virus contagion.
Ahmad also announced the cancellation of the women’s Cup of Nations which was scheduled to take place in November while revealing the launch of a new club competition for 2021.
“I am expressing my pride in seeing the birth of a women’s Champions League on the African continent,” the CAF president, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct last year, said.