The next Africa Cup of Nations has been pushed back to 2024 due to weather concerns in the Ivory Coast with the tournament now being played in the winter.
Like the most recent AFCON, it will be contested in January and February - meaning several Premier League players could miss a chunk of the campaign. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) plus other executive boards have had to come to an agreement to postpone the tournament until 2024. "We cannot take the risk," CAF president Patrice Motsepe said in the Moroccan capital Rabat, via the BBC.
It was actually in 2017 that CAF announced that the traditional January-February slot would be no more in the near future to help avoid disputes with European clubs who have not been impressed by having to release their players mid-season in the past. Liverpool lost both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane last term, although the pair only missed two Premier League matches in the end due to the winter break.
Arsenal lost Thomas Partey for one game as he returned for their goalless draw against Burnley after Ghana were dumped out at the group stage phase, while Mohamed Elneny featured for Eygpt. Across London, Chelsea had Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy involved for Morocco and Senegal respectively, while new Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma represents Mali.
Elsewhere, Manchester United have Eric Bailly who plays for Ivory Coast and Liverpool could lose Salah once again after Mane joined Bayern Munich last month. Qualifiers for the next tournament are currently taking place, as some matches took place back in June.
Salah's Egypt picked up three points from their opening two matches, beating Guinea and losing against Ethiopia, while Malawi are the other country in that group. Riyad Mahrez's Algeria have arguably made the most impressive start to qualifying with two wins from two, having also not conceded a goal with 2-0 wins over Tanzania and Uganda.
Ivory Coast feature a number of Premier League stars including Wilfried Zaha and Nicolas Pepe and they have made a fast start to their qualifying campaign with a 4-1 win over Patson Daka's Zambia, although they were held to a goalless draw by Lesotho. They will automatically compete in the tournament, though, due to being hosts.
