Hosts Guinea have said they will not be able to host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in June.
Last week, Fifa secretary general, Jerome Valcke, said the 2023 Nations Cup tournament will be moved from its original month of January to June because of plans to play the 2022 World Cup in Qatar between end-November and end-December.
Guinean sport minister Domani Dore, speaking to local television station, said: “We cannot accommodate the Nations Cup in June, it is the rainy season.”
A Fifa task force a week ago proposed the 2022 World Cup be moved to the cooler month of November and December to avoid Qatar’s extreme summer temperatures.
The Confederation of African Football and other confederations are understandably fully behind the dates change.
Valcke, in a press conference after the first meeting of the Local Organising Committee for the 2022 world showpiece, added that it has been agreed with Caf to move Afcon 2023 to summer 2023.
“Caf needs to take care to seek the advice of Guinea that we as a state decide which dates the tournament will be played,” Dore continued. “We understand the problem around the World Cup and the clash with the Nations Cup.
“But Caf needs to take care to ask our opinion. In June, we cannot accommodate a Nations Cup tournament. It’s not possible.”
