He Africa Cup of Nations will revert to its former time slot of January and February for the next edition in 2021, hosts Cameroon said on Wednesday.
The tournament’s organising committee, as well as the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), revealed that the tournament will be played from January 9 to February 6, 2021 after a meeting with Confederation of African Football (CAF) chief Ahmad Ahmad in Yaounde.
A statement published on the CAF’s website said organisers had asked for the dates to be changed because of “the unfavourable weather conditions during the period initially scheduled”.
The tournament was moved to a June-July slot for last year’s first 24-team edition in Egypt, in large part to avoid clashing with the European club season.
However, the change may not be viewed so positively by leading European clubs, who now risk losing key players to the competition for up to five weeks midway through next season.