The African Cup of Nations of 2021 has been officially postponed.
After a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the African Football Confederation confirmed that the tournament will be moved to January 2022.
It provides a boost to clubs that were waiting to lose players in the middle of next season for the tournament.
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The competition was initially scheduled to be played in Cameroon in June and July 2021, with CAF having moved its continental tournament in the summer to prevent players from having to leave the teams in mid-season to take part.
However, in January of this year, it was rescheduled for January and February 2021 due to unfavorable weather conditions in Cameroon in June and July.
With UEFA postponing Euro 2020 until next year and that Copa America will also be hosted in 2021, the CAF has decided to delay its tournament by 12 months.
The coronavirus has meant that a calendar for the next season has yet to be finalized, so the Africa Cup of Nations has been postponed to avoid further interruptions.
However, clubs will still have to lose players for part of the 2021/22 season, but now they have more time to plan for this.
With club spending destined to be hit hard by the coronavirus, any club trying to replace players for the African Nations Cup would have found it further extended in the transfer market.
For Arsenal, it means that the likes of Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – if still at the club – will be available for the entire next season
Chelsea will be able to have Hakim Ziyech available throughout the season after his move from Ajax.
Serge Aurier will be available throughout the Tottenham Hotspur campaign.
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