Egypt coach Hossam El-Badry says he felt relieved by the recent decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone next year’s African Cup of Nations to 2022.

The African football governing body announced last week that the prestigious tournament, which was scheduled to be played in early 2021, has been postponed until January 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The coronavirus pandemic changed our plan, and sure, the postponement decision made me comfortable,” El-Badry told Al-Nahar TV channel on Monday.

The Nations Cup was scheduled to start on 9 January 2021 in Cameroon, but the fate of the continental tournament was unclear given that the CAF had postponed three rounds of qualifiers until further notice.

“I expect that continental football activity will be resumed in October through playing the African World Cup qualifiers, and if not we will work on playing friendly matches,” the Pharaohs coach added.

Egypt, record seven-time African champions, are due to continue their campaign in the Nations Cup qualifiers, but the final dates of the remaining matches aren’t fixed yet.

The Pharaohs were held to draws by minnows Kenya and Comoros in their opening qualifying games last year. The group winners will advance to the 2022 Nations Cup finals in Cameroon.

In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Egypt were thrown into Group F along with Gabon, Libya and Angola.

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