The Confederation of African Football (CAF)have announced that the Super Eagles and other finalists to the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon could now register as many as 28 players to cover for Coronavirus infections in the squad.
Previously, the final squad for the AFCON is 23.
However, CAF have now announced that all 24 AFCON finalists could now register additional five players for the tournament, but the teams will be the ones to foot the bills of these additional players.
A circular signed by CAF director of competitions Samson Adamu said: “On the occasion of the upcoming final tournament of the TOTALENERGIES Africa Cup of Nations – Cameroon 2021, we would like to provide you with the following decision:
“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.
“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.
“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 delayed 2021 AFCON will be hosted by Cameroon between January 6 to February 9, 2022.
