[ad_1]
The Egyptian national team postponed the start of the African National Cup football tournament on Friday after goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal and goalkeeper Essam el-Hadary tested positive for coronavirus.
Egypt will fly from Cairo to Cameroon on Saturday without Abou Gabal and el-Hadary. Egypt is just the last of many African Cup of Nations teams to have their preparations damaged by pandemics.
READ:
Persepolis were knocked out of the Asian Champions League
Abou Gabal and el-Hadary tested positive on Thursday, the Egyptian Football Association said, and will lose the tournament.
“Unprecedented times. The more difficult the situation, the more we will stay together and stronger,” Egyptian coach Carlos Queiroz wrote on Twitter.
Egypt, captain of Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah, launched his African Cup of Nations campaign against Nigeria on Tuesday in one of the group stage matches.
Nearly one of the 24 teams competing in the Africa Cup of Nations, which opens on Sunday, has been attacked in one way or another. Burkina Faso may not be able to play as a full team in the opening match against the host Cameroon due to infections in his team.
Christmas also has problems with the virus and has now ruled out a hotel assigned to Yaound by African Cup organizers and has possible penalties for moving to another base without permission.
ALSO READ:
The Nations Cup will begin under the COVID cloud
Christmas captain and Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, midfielder Mario Lemina and assistant coach Anicet Yala tested positive for coronavirus at an airport when the team arrived in Cameroon on Thursday.
All three tested positive after rapid antigen testing and performed more tests to determine if they were infected. The results of these follow-up tests have not been announced, but although they are positive, Aubameyang and Lemina will definitely miss the team’s opening match against the Comoros on Monday.
Most of the group and delegation were moved from one assigned hotel in Christmas to another in Yaounde, saying the hotel provided was inadequate.
The African Football Confederation asked for an explanation for Christmas on Friday morning, and said the matter would be presented to the CAF disciplinary committee because the hotel that went to Christmas is not on the approved list.
Cameroon has hosted the Africa Cup of Nations three years later than planned. The 2019 tournament was canceled because it was too late with preparations and the event was postponed for a year from 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will now move forward among the global rise in virus cases driven by the omicron variant.
The African Cup is held every two years, not every four years as in other major football tournaments.
[ad_2]
Source link
