The African qualifiers to the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup in 2021 have been hit with further delay due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has announced.
The first round of the qualifiers was initially scheduled for late March but the schedule had to be abandoned following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
Fifa, later on, announced September 2020 as new dates for the qualifiers to continue, having rescheduled the tournament dates from to 2021.
Ghana’s Black Princesses hit camp on Friday, August 14 to continue preparations for their first-round clash with Guinea-Bissau.
But a sudden decision by Caf indicates the continental football governing body has been forced to freeze their schedule.
A Caf announcement Saturday read:
“Due to travel restrictions across parts of Africa as a result of COVID-19, the qualifiers for the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica/Panama 2020 scheduled for September 2020 has been postponed.
The First Round first leg was fixed for 3-5 September 2020 with the return leg from 10-12 September 2020.
The revised fixtures for the qualifiers will be announced in due course after consultation with the various stakeholders.
Two teams will qualify to represent Africa at the final tournament from 20 January – 6 February 2021 in Costa Rica and Panama.
Meanwhile, Caf is monitoring the situation closely and working with the relevant authorities with regards to hosting of the matches, and will make pronouncements accordingly in the event of developments that will affect playing a match at the designated venue.”
