Tuesday 30 June 2020 16:21, UK
The Africa Cup of Nations, which was scheduled to take place in Cameroon in January, has been postponed until 2022.
The coronavirus pandemic has suspended football across most of the continent since March and left little time to complete the qualification competition.
The Cup of Nations was due to be held from January 9 until February 6 next year but will now be scheduled for January 2022.
The date for the final tournament and the remaining matches of the qualifiers will be communicated in due course, the Confederation of African Football said in a statement after an executive committee meeting.
This is the second change of date for the tournament. It was initially set to take place in June and July next year, during Cameroon's rainy season, but it was brought forward five months to ensure reliable weather conditions.
The decision means clubs in Europe will no longer have to let their African players leave for international duty midway through next season.
In a separate decision, CAF cancelled the 2020 Women's Africa Cup of Nations due to "challenging conditions" and will instead launch a Women's Champions League in 2021.
Cameroon will get to stage the semi-finals and final of this year's African Champions League which will be played at a single venue in Douala, CAF's executive committee decided.
