AFCON QUALIFIERS POSTPONED FROM JUNE

MBABANE – It appears the national team, Sihlangu, will have an extended break than many have thought.

This is after FIFA’s new recommendations where the world football mother body suggested the postponement of all international matches due to be played during the upcoming June 2020 window. The FIFA-Confederations working group which was recently established by the Bureau of the FIFA Council to address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and which includes the FIFA  administration and secretary generals and top executives from all confederations, has unanimously approved a series of recommendations following its first meeting, which was organised via conference call last Friday.

According to the statement by FIFA, the working group recommended that for men’s international match calendar, postpone all international matches due to be played during the upcoming June 2020 window and organise bilateral discussions with confederations concerning 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in order to finalise a revised match schedule pending health and safety developments. Sitsebe and junior national teams will also be affected by the recommendations.

Concerning the women’s international match calendar, it has also been suggested to postpone all international matches due to be played during the upcoming June 2020 window, to include the new dates of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in the women’s international match calendar; and to create a sub-working group on the women’s international match calendar to consider potential changes to the calendar and dates of postponed FIFA final tournaments.

Other recommendations include to support the work of the FIFA-led task force on transfer matters (composed of all key football stakeholders – confederations, member associations, leagues, clubs and players) in order for guidelines and recommendations to be issued as soon as possible. The group also suggested a global support fund for football is to appoint one person per confederation to coordinate on this topic together with FIFA, with the working group being kept informed of developments and that the FIFA-Confederations working group will continue to hold discussions on a regular basis as the situation evolves.

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