African governing body CAF said it may consider holding continental matches behind closed doors, postpone or even cancel them due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Known officially as COVID-19, the virus, which originated in China, has infected almost 100,000 people all over the world, claiming the lives of more than 3,200.

According to CAF, eight major African football countries have detected cases: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon and South Africa.

On Friday, Egypt's health ministry said 12 new cases were detected on board a cruise ship that sailed from the southern city of Aswan to Luxor, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 15.

CAF said in a statement that it's closely monitoring the situation to take the appropriate measures if it needs to.

"We are not extremely worried but remain vigilant with regards to future matches and tournaments such as the CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup and the final tournament of the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN) scheduled to take place in Cameroon from 4-25 April 2020," the statement read.

"The team is in touch with the countries organizing these matches and reports in due time on updates to the Executive Committee.

"If the situation requires and in agreement with the countries concerned, matches behind closed doors, postponements or even cancellations are envisaged."

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