The Confederation of African football (CAF) has with immediate effect cancelled the 2021 U-17 AFCON tournament that was scheduled for this month in Morocco.

CAF arrived at this decision on Monday after an emergency meeting held in Morocco opined that the current  Corona Virus situation in the North African nation will not be conducive to stage the tournament hence opted to abandon the it with immediate effect.


The men’s U-17 AFCON is among several tournaments and sports events across the world that have been called off since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.

Before the decision was made, five of the 12 participating nations were already in Morocco.

Zambia, Uganda, Senegal, Ivory Coast have been forced to return home while hoping to be compensated or reimbursed for the expenses made so far by CAF.

This comes within six weeks after Cameroon and Mauritania played host to the African Nations championship and the Under-20 AFCON respectively.

The recent event is the second in six years as in 2015 the same Morocco closed her doors on the rest of the continent citing the Ebola Virus.

The next Under-17 AFCON tournament is scheduled for April 2023. The best four nations from that tournament will represent Africa at the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Peru.

Ghana failed to qualify for the tournament after elimination at the WAFU Zone B tournament held in Morocco.