The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has denied reports that the 2022 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Algeria will be the last edition of the competition.
The tournament is set to kick off on Friday when hosts Algeria take on Libya at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in the capital city of Algiers.
The future and viability of CHAN – which is made up of players plying their trade in the local leagues of the national teams – has come to the spotlight lately. However, CAF General Secretary, Veron Mosengo-Omba has dispelled those rumours, insisting the growth of the competition is already being mapped out.
“We can re-assure you that this is not the last edition of CHAN. The Executive Committee is meeting tomorrow, and part of the agenda has the organizing committee of CHAN mapping a way forward and the next steps in growing the competition,” Mosengo-Omba was quoted by CAF website.
Regarding the state of preparedness for CHAN 2022, Mosengo-Omba applauded the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for fulfilling everything that was promised.
“We have been working quite closely with the LOC and are proud to confirm that they have done amazingly well in preparing and meeting the high standards that have been set by CAF,” the CAF General Secretary added.
“We must also thank the governors of Algeria for their support. Everything that they had promised to CAF, has been fulfilled. They are doing a great job and must be applauded.”
Morocco are the defending champions of CHAN after beating Mali 2-0 at the final of the 2020 edition in Cameroon but they withdrew from the competition on Thursday.
CHAN 2022 runs from January 13 until February 4 across four Algerian cities: Algiers, Oran, Constantine and Annaba.
