The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to cancel the Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations tournament, which was going to start in Morocco next Monday.
Chief executive officer of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Tebogo Motlanthe has revealed that they got to know about the cancellation of the tournament on Monday night.
“You would know that we had struggles about the visas. It was informed mainly by a COVID status of Morocco. We had been in contact with CAF throughout. I spoke to the secretary-general of CAF who said they were going to have an emergency committee meeting at 9pm last night (Monday),” Motlanthe said.
“They had a meeting, you would know that our president (Danny Jordaan) sits on that meeting. He then informed me that the tournament had been cancelled due to the fact that they had already detected COVID cases.”
Motlanthe added that the cancellation of the tournament follows the same way FIFA cancelled the world Under-17 showpiece.
“Of course, it’s a setback because you wanted to test your Under-17 against the continent’s powerhouse, but it’s not the end of the road for the players,” Motlanthe said.
Amajimbo coach Vela Khumalo said about the latest developments: “It’s very disappointing, not for me, but for the boys and the team at large. It’s the COVID, we have no control over it.”
