CAF boss Ahmad hints of returning AFCON dates to January/February

CAF president Ahmad has revealed the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will be played in January/February and NOT June due to the weather condition in host country Cameroon.

According to the Malagasy, the alteration of the calendar is to ''protect the integrity of the competition.''

Ahmad told Inside World Football: ''When we took the decision to move the Africa Cup of Nations to June, which we did for the last tournament in Egypt, we have always said that we need to have some flexibility over the dates.

''This is because of the different climatic conditions in the continent. I don’t know why the media has forgotten that this was discussed in detail, at the 2017 CAF symposium that we had in Morocco.

''In my view, it is not possible, because of the climatic conditions in Cameroon, to stage the Africa Cup of Nations in June/July. This is clear, so we must take a decision on the date.''

Playing the continent's flagship event in January 2021 would clash with the new FIFA Club World Cup and the return to the strenuous club-versus-country row.