DBasia.news – The Africa Cup which was originally held in June was forced to accelerate to January due to weather problems. This would make Liverpool potentially left by Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, and Naby Keita in 2021.
Throughout its history, the African Cup is usually held in January to February. However, the African Football Association (CAF) decided to hold this prestigious tournament in June in the 2019 edition.
In the upcoming 2021 edition, Cameroon will serve as host. They also have announced that they will hold the Africa Cup of Nations from January 9 to February 6, 2021.
“In 2021, the African Cup will be held in Cameroon on January 9 to February 6. This change of date was decided after weighing on the weather factors in Cameroon, “wrote a complete statement from the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT).
This decision would certainly be a crushing blow for Liverpool. As Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (Senegal), and Naby Keita (Guinea), are important players in their respective national teams. Not only that, the three also became key personnel for the Reds in the last two seasons.
Not only Liverpool, the decision of the CAF also harmed Arsenal and Manchester City. Arsenal are almost certain to lose Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) and Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast). Meanwhile, Manchester City will lose Riyad Mahrez (Algeria).
In the 2019 edition, Mahrez succeeded in
bringing Algeria to reach the African Cup title. At the top of the party, they
defeated Senegal which was captained by Mane.