A virtual executive committee meeting chaired by recently
elected president Patrice Motsepe from South Africa also decided that a draw to
divide the 24 qualifiers into six groups will be held on June 25.
Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Egypt,
Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory
Coast, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and
Zimbabwe have qualified.
The remaining place rests between Benin and Sierra Leone,
whose fixture in Freetown this week did not take place because the visitors
challenged Covid-19 results after five of their key players tested positive.
A CAF statement said the match had been rearranged for the
May 31-June 15 international window, following which Sierra Leone launched an
appeal against that decision.
The Sierra Leone Football Association said the appeal was
based on the "failure (of Benin) to report for a match and/or refusal to
play".
Sierra Leone trail Benin by three points in Group L and must
win to replace them in the second qualifying place and go to the Cup of Nations
for the first time since 1996.
Pre-match Covid-19 tests are currently performed in CAF
competitions by the host national team or club and there have been numerous
allegations of false positive results depriving opponents of stars.
The CAF meeting acknowledged that having hosts in charge of
testing was problematic and is planning, with World Health Organization (WHO)
assistance, to use independent medical staff instead.
Concern was also expressed by the executive at the
degradation of football infrastructure in many African countries, highlighting
a long-standing problem of poor stadium maintenance. -AFP
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