Amidst a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and the more communicable Omicron variant, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has reiterated her stance that the Africa Cup of Nations tournament is scheduled to kick off on January 9 in Cameroon will go ahead.
It said fans will be allowed entry into the various stadiums.
CAF president, Patrice Motsepe visited the Cameroon President, Paul Biya, in Yaounde on Tuesday and the meeting agreed on the modalities for fans’ participation in the 33rd Nations Cup tournament.
In a communique released by CAF, “Supporters may only enter stadiums to attend the 52 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations matches in Cameroon if they are fully vaccinated and are able to show a negative PCR test result that is no older than 72 hours or a negative antigen test result no older than 24 hours.”
There has been a spike in new COVID-19 cases in Cameroon from December 2 when there were no new cases to 384 recorded on December 22.
The communique added, “The competent health authorities will take all necessary action to facilitate vaccination and the performance of screening tests at all competition sites in Cameroon.
“Moreover, with a view to ensuring fairness and neutrality as well as trust on all sides, CAF will use a globally respected and independent testing organisation, UNILAB to test the national team players and their delegations.
“CAF is proceeding together with its partners and other stakeholders in the preparations of a successful hosting of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 starting on 09 January 2022.”
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will be in Cameroon, seeking a fourth title and they start their campaign on January 11 in Garoua against the Pharaohs of Egypt.