AFCON 2021: Cameroon To Benefit From CAF’s Squad Addition From 23 Players To 28

As an aftermath of the Covid19 pandemic, the Confederation of African Football has officially enlarged the AFCON 2021 squad lists from an initial 23, to 28, via a letter penned by the CAF Director of competitions – Samson Adamu on Sunday 24.

The letter reads:

“In the occasion of the upcoming final tournament of the TOTAL ENERGIES Africa Cup of Nations – Cameroon 2021, we would like to provide you with the following decision:

1. Number of additional players – The Organizing Committee of the Africa Cup of Nations has decided to increase the number of players to 5 additional players. Consequently, the list of players could be increased to a maximum of 28 players. This decision was taken to allow the participating teams have a larger squad list for the competition in case some players test positive for COVID 19.
2. On the other hand, please note that your federation will bear the cost of the international travel as well as the accommodation of these additional players on the final list. In view of the above, we would like to inform you that the registration of the 5 additional players is only an option and not an obligation.
3. Number of substitute players: Concerning the number of substitutions, CAF will apply the law of three substitutions per match (+ 1 additional substitution in case of extra time) during the final tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations,” the statement stated.

Cameroon will host the competition brought to winter from summer. It is scheduled to begin on January 9 and run till February 6, 2022 when the final will be played to decide the new continental champions.

The addition of 5 players, to quickly swap in case an athlete is tested positive for the Covid19.

This now means that other selections, including the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon under Antonio, will be allowed some more arsenal during the competition finals.

This will give room for more players to get a chance to represent the country at the biennial tournament.

In other competitions held earlier this year; the African Nations Championship and the Under-20 AFCON, the traveling pack of some teams went all the way to 32.