FIFA shift African Cup of Nations to 2022

FIFA has made further changes to the international calendar due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including moving the Africa Cup of Nations to 2022.

The tournament had been set to take place in Cameroon at the beginning of next year but FIFA has said it will now be staged in January 2022, with the exact dates to be determined at a later stage.

However, the women’s version of the event has been cancelled.

Meanwhile, new dates for the CONCACAF Gold Cup have been set with preliminary rounds due to take place between July 2-6 and the final tournament from July 10 to August 1, 2021.

The window for international fixtures from August 31 to September 8 this year has also been moved to January 24 to February 1, 2022 for all confederations except UEFA, this also applies to the women’s game.

The governing body has also moved the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament – originally scheduled from July 22 to August 7 this year – with new dates of July 21 to August 6, 2021.

In a statement FIFA said: “In addition to the previous decisions by the FIFA Council, the Bureau of the Council has unanimously approved a set of further changes to the men’s and women’s international match calendars in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which persists in most parts of the world. These changes follow a thorough consultation process with the confederations and football stakeholders.

“This process resulted in proposals via the FIFA-Confederations Covid-19 Working Group that maintain the previously-agreed principle that a flexible approach is required.”