By Monica Iheakam
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has increased the number of players each country will submit for the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) from 23 to 28 players.
Cameroon will host the competition that was postponed to January 9 to February 6, 2022 due to the COVID-pandemic.
The decision was contained in a letter signed by Samson Adamu, Director of Competitions sent to Member Associations and is geared towards availing participating countries the opportunity of a larger squad to execute their matches should players test positive for COVID-19.
The letter dated Sunday 24 October 2021 reads in parts;
“In the occasion of the upcoming final tournament of the TOTALENERGIES Africa Cup of Nations – Cameroon 2021, we would like to provide you with the following decision:
“The Organizing Committee of the Africa Cup of Nations has decided to increase the number of players to 5 additional players. Consequently, the list of players could be increased to a maximum of 28 players. This decision was taken to allow the participating teams have a larger squad list for the competition in case some players test positive for COVID 19.
“Concerning the number of substitutions, CAF will apply the law of three substitutions per match (+ 1 additional substitution in case of extra time) during the final tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations.”
“Please note that your federation will bear the cost of the international travel as well as the accommodation of these additional players on the final list. In view of the above, we would like to inform you that the registration of the 5 additional players is only an option and not an obligation,” the statement read..