CAF reschedules Egypt's AFCON qualifiers against Guinea, Ethiopia due to CL final

Mahmoud Elassal , Thursday 12 May 2022

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rescheduled Egypt’s games against Guinea and Ethiopia in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers due to Ahly’s expected participation in the Champions League final, the Egyptian Football Association announced on Thursday.

Egypt s forward Mohamed Salah (L) fights for the ball with Guinea-Bissau s midfielder Moreto Cassama during the Group D Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 football match between Guinea-Bissau and Egypt at Stade Roumde Adjia in Garoua on January 15, 2022. AFP

“The CAF agreed with the Egyptian Football Association’s request to postpone the coming two games against Guinea and Ethiopia in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers,” read a statement by the EFA.

“The CAF decided to play games against Guinea and Ethiopia on 5 and 9 June instead of 2 and 6 of the same month,” the statement added.

The Pharaohs were scheduled to begin their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers campaign against Guinea on 2 June before taking on Ethiopia a week later.

Egypt’s Ahly put one foot in the CAF Champions League final with a comfortable 4-0 win over Algeria's ES Setif in the semi-final’s first leg.

The CAF has set 30 May for the 2022 African Champions League final that will take place in Morocco.

The Egyptian Football Association had asked the CAF to reschedule the AFCON qualifiers to have time to prepare for their mission in the continental tournament.

“We will compete for the title of any tournaments we take part in, but first, we have to concentrate on the 2023 African Cup of Nations’ qualifiers,” Egypt’s newly appointed national team coach Ehab Galal said.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)