SAFA president Danny Jordaan

The Ghana Football Association’s General Secretary Lawyer Prosper Harrison Addo has hit out at SAFA after FIFA rejected their appeal. Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

SAFA catches MASSIVE break after Bafana’s SWC 2022 qualifiers delayed

Next month’s opening 2022 Soccer World Cup qualifiers for Africa are set to be delayed because a host of stadiums lack CAF approval.

SAFA president Danny Jordaan

The Ghana Football Association’s General Secretary Lawyer Prosper Harrison Addo has hit out at SAFA after FIFA rejected their appeal. Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

Next month’s opening 2022 Soccer World Cup qualifiers for Africa are set to be delayed because a host of stadiums lack Confederation of African Football approval, sources told AFP on Tuesday. 

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According to sources at several football federations in Africa, CAF is planning to postpone the first two days of qualifying from June to September. 

“The CAF emergency committee validated the decision on Monday, we are awaiting the validation of the executive committee” on May 15, a federation president told AFP.

Other leading figures within African football have confirmed the decision. 

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When questioned, CAF did not confirm the postponement and announced that it would communicate on the subject “during the day”.

The six qualifying matchdays would be staggered two-by-two in September, October and November.

According to the same sources the playoffs will take place in March after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon, itself initially scheduled for 2021 but pushed back to 2022 by the coronavirus pandemic.

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The last-minute postponement has been prompted by the absence of stadiums approved by CAF in 22 of the confederation’s 54 member countries.

Countries including Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal would not be able to play their home matches in June.

There is also no approved stadium in Sierra Leone, who are due to play a delayed AFCON qualifier against Benin in June.

The news will come as music to the ears of the South African Football Association (SAFA) who have still not named the new coach to lead Bafana Bafana into those qualifiers which were, until the delay, due to kick off in the first week in June.

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