U-17 AFCON cancelled five days to kick off

The 2021 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament in Morocco has been called off just five days before kickoff.

The cadet competition was due to start on Saturday, March 13 and run through to the end of the month and a number of the 12 qualified nations like Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Senegal had already arrived in host country Morocco preparing for the tournament

But it will no longer hold following a decision of the Emergency Committee of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Monday.

A brief statement by CAF cited the difficulties of holding a tournament in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic as the main reason for the cancellation.