Afcon third place play-off brought forward

In Yaounde 

Confederation of African Football, (CAF) has rescheduled the third place play-off of the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Initially scheduled to be played on Sunday, the game has been brought forward to Saturday, the continental football governing body announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement signed by CAF’s Secretary General, Veron Mosengo-Omba said the decision to move the game from Sunday to Saturday follows “discussions with the government of Cameroon and  the Local Organising Committee.” The venue, the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde is not affected by the change.

The Local Organising Committee had earlier on Wednesday written to the Cairo-based continental football governing body requesting the change of the match day following an avalanche of calls from fans and the media.

The match which was originally scheduled to be played three hours before the final, “technically clashed with the final match”, according to Fabrice Dewah, a sports reporter with Cameroon daily, The Guardian Post.

“CAF initially scheduled the third place match for 5pm at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium barely three hours to the kick off of the final at the Olembe Stadium. If the schedule was maintained, it would have complicated fans’ turnout for the two important matches given that the Olembe Stadium is like 13 kilometers away,” Dewah said.

On Wednesday, Senegal defeated Burkina Faso 3-1 to sail to the final for the second consecutive time. While the winner of the second semi-final match between hosts and five times champions Cameroon and seven time record champions, the Pharaohs of Egypt on Thursday will advance to the final to face Senegal, the loser will face Burkina Faso in the third place play-off.

Officials have announced that over 2,000 security elements will be deployed to the Olembe Stadium to control fans’ influx during second semi-final game on Thursday.