The 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) has been postponed until August – just 18 days before the tournament was due to kick off in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
A Confederation of African Football (Caf) statement, said its experts had advised that “more time is required” to ensure the infrastructure and facilities for the finals are “at the levels necessary”.
Last month Kenya’s then-sports minister moved to allay concerns that the country might lose hosting rights for the competition, which is for domestic-based players.
The 2024 CHAN was set to take place between 1 and 28 February, with some countries having already announced their squads and begun training camps.
Caf will announce the exact dates of the rescheduled tournament “in due course”.
“I am confident that the stadiums, other infrastructure and facilities will be at the requisite Caf standards for hosting, in August 2025, a very successful CHAN,” Caf president Patrice Motsepe said.
CHAN 2024 hosting rights were awarded in December 2023, and the second-tier competition is considered as a dress rehearsal before Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda become the first three-way hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2027.
Group draw to go ahead
Despite the postponement, the group draw for CHAN will go ahead as planned in Nairobi on Wednesday – even though the final line-up of teams is yet to be decided.
Nineteen nations were initially due to take part before Libya and Tunisia withdrew from the finals.
To fill the gaps, Caf is expected to announce details of another qualifying competition to take place ahead of the rearranged tournament.
The withdrawals, along with the fact that more than 10 countries did not enter the initial qualifying competition, have led to questions about the viability of CHAN, which clashes with major domestic leagues from which players would have to be released.
Last week Caf increased prize money for the winners by 75% to $3.5m (£2.8m), while the total prize money on offer at the finals is $10.4m (£8.5m).
CHAN was first played in 2009 and the 2022 edition, which was played in early 2023 in Algeria and featured 17 teams after Morocco withdrew, was won by Senegal.
CHAN 2024 qualified teams
Kenya (co-hosts), Tanzania (co-hosts), Uganda (co-hosts), Angola, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, DR Congo, Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Zambia.
Source: BBC Africa