Uganda’s upcoming Africa Cup of Nation qualifiers against South Sudan will not take place.
The two nations were slated to face off in a double header with the first game at Mandela National Stadium in Namboole on March 28.
It is not the only game that has been postponed as all the other qualification games have also been moved forward to a future date that is yet to be communicated.
This was confirmed on Friday through a press statement by the Confederations of African football (CAF).
“As CAF’s top priority remains the health and safety of our stakeholders (players, officials, sponsors, broadcasters, employees ….etc), we have been monitoring closely, together with our Medical committee, the impact of the current Coronavirus crisis, reads part of the statement.
CAF has further indicated the five reasons that have forced them to postpone the qualifiers.
-Coronavirus has been declared a Pandemic by World Health Organisation (WHO).
-In Africa, only few cases have been reported but he situation could evolve negatively.
-Several players who are supposed to play the next AFCON qualifiers come from countries which have been severely affected by the virus (Europe, Asia).
-Several African governments have taken strong restrictions on travel: lock down, quarantine for people coming from countries affected by the virus.
-Several clubs refuse to release their players for the next international matches.
“For the above reasons and after studying carefully the current situation, CAF has postponed the Total Africa Cup of Nation 2021 qualifiers, scheduled from 25th to 31st March 2020.”
CAF has further informed that they will share a new calendar that will be communicated on a second step according to the evolution of the coronavirus, with the football fraternity.
The AFCON qualifiers are not the first sporting activities to be postponed due to the coronavirus out-break.
Several European nations have seen their leagues postponed in the last few days and international competitions like the Australian Grand Prix have also been cancelled.
The coronavirus has massively hit the world, killing over 3,000 people.
Uganda has so far not witnessed a coronavirus case let alone a death. However, the government has barred several flights from up to 16 countries.
Uganda was set to play their third game in the qualifiers.
They currently sit top of their group after drawing one and winning the other of their opening two games.
