AFCON Under-17: CAF Dashes Hopes Of Youngsters |The Source

By Akinwale Kasali

It came as a big surprise to the entire football fraternity in the continent, following the announcement of the cancellation of the Under-17 African Cup of Nations Championship slated for Morocco. It was supposed to begin this weekend.

The Ahmad Ahmad led Confederation of African Football, CAF, announced that the tournament have been cancelled following the Covid-19 pandemic which prompted restrictions on traveling in the North African State.

Already, five countries had arrived the venue of the tournament before the cancellation order by the Continent football apex body.

The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria had been scheduled to jet out to Morocco today, Thursday, before the sad news broke, dashing the hope of the youngsters who had been camped, and preparing for this tournament.

In one of the friendly matches played by the Eaglets, it thrashed Bayern Munich football Club of Germany Under-17 team 5-2 to announce its preparedness for the continental showpiece.

The National team Golden Eaglets had qualified for the championship having come second at the West Africa Football Union, WAFU, tournament.

No doubt, the cancellation of the championship will, in several ways, affect the future of the players, as they won’t be able to showcase their talents to attract prospective offers from Europe and across the world.

This will also limit their chances of dorning the national team Jersey as the players would be disbanded, putting an hold their future, soccer analysts and enthusiasts opine.