The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rescheduled the remaining qualification games for the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The continental football governing body announced the postponement in a statement on its website on Sunday.
Super Eagles were initially scheduled to play Guinea Bissau in a double-header clash on September 18 and 26, 2022 — but the ties have now been shifted to hold between March 20 and 28, 2023.
CAF said the revised calendar is to “make room for the African nations that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November/December 2022 to prepare adequately”.
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“The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee has approved a revised TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 revised qualification calendar,” the statement reads.
“This was necessitated by the Executive Committee’s commitment to make room for the African nations that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November/ December 2022 to prepare adequately.
“Consequently, the September 2022 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire match day three and match day four qualifiers have been moved to 20-28 March 2023.
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“Matchday five will now be on 12-20 June 2023 while match day six will be played on 4-12 September 2023.”
Nigeria’s double-header clash with Guinea Bissau is the third and fourth fixtures in the qualification campaign.
The Eagles had defeated Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe 2-1 and 10-0, respectively, in the first two games of the qualifiers.
TheCable had reported that the AFCON billed to hold in Ivory Coast has also been moved to January and February 2024.
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