BEVERLY HILLS, November 05, (THEWILL) – Togo has pulled out as hosts of the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) zonal qualifiers. An official press statement cited concerns over the continued spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the statement from the Togo Football Federation on Thursday, the Federation explained that the country could no longer stage these qualifiers for the Under-20 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) billed to start on Wednesday, November 18 because of the recent surge of Coronavirus cases.
The implication of this is that the Flying Eagles, Nigeria’s men national under-20 team, as well as six other countries set to feature in the Togo-hosted qualifying series will have to wait for a new host country as well as new dates.
The Nigerian team, under coaches Isah Ladan Bosso and Fatal Amoo, has been training in Abuja for the past two weeks in preparation for the qualifying tournament in Togo.
They were billed to open their qualifying campaign on Thursday, November 19 against Cote d’Ivoire in Group B. Nigeria’s arch-rivals Ghana were the other team in that Group.
They all will now wait for new developments concerning new hosts and dates of fixtures. THEWILL hopes it can be sooner than later.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
