EXCLUSIVE: CAF officially announces revision of U-20 AFCON draw

By Harry Awurumibe,  Editor-in-Chief, Abuja

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially informed Member Associations (MAs) affiliated to it that qualified for the forthcoming CAF U-20  Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Egypt 2025, including Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of the decision by CAF Organizing Committee for Youth Competitions to redo the draw to realign the match calendar, considering the recent award of the host of the tournament to Egypt after original host Côte d’Ivoire suddenly withdrew Prompt News reports.

CAF had on Thursday, 13 February 2025, at its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt conducted the Final Draw for the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations earlier scheduled for Côte d’Ivoire 2025 with Nigeria and former champions Egypt, Morocco and South Africa drawn in Group B.

Also, Côte d’Ivoire as host headed Group A comprising DR Congo, Ghana, Tanzania, and a second representative from the UNIFFAC region, making it one of the most competitive groups.

But the Ivorian football authorities, on March 26, 2025, surprisingly withdrew from hosting the U-20 AFCON just weeks before the tournament kicks off, a situation which has led CAF  Executive Committee to award the organisation of the competition to Egypt from April 27  to May 18, 2025.

However,  Prompt News exclusively gathered that CAF Organizing Committee for Youth Competitions has decided to redo the draw to realign the match fixtures and allow Egypt as the host country to head Group A in line with global best practice.

Already,  all the qualified countries for the CAF U-20 AFCON have been informed of the above through an official CAF circular letter signed by Samson Adamu, CAF Director of Tournaments and Events obtained by our reporter.

The letter dated April 11, 2025 and addressed: TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AFFILIATED TO CAF THAT QUALIFIED FOR THE FINAL

TOURNAMENT OF THE TOTALENERGIES, U20 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS, EGYPT 2025, read: “Subject: TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt 2025 – Team Matters

“Following the withdrawal of Cote d’Ivoire from hosting the TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025 due to unforeseen circumstances, CAF Executive Committee awarded the Organization to Egypt from 27th April to 18th May 2025.

On the other hand, the Executive Committee decided to consider Egypt qualified as a host and therefore, the teams ranked second and third in the qualifiers of UNAF will take the 2 slots of this

zone, namely, Morocco and Tunisia.

Moreover, following the suspension of Congo, the CAF Organizing Committee of Youth Competitions decided to replace Congo with Central Africa, the last team that Congo had eliminated in the qualifiers.

Due to the change of host and the qualification of Central Africa, several factors have collectively affected the match schedule and necessitated a revision of the previously conducted draw.

Furthermore, according to the regulations, the host should be the head of group A, while Egypt was drawn in Group B.

Therefore, CAF Organizing Committee for Youth Competitions has decided to redo the draw to realign the match calendar, considering the new elements”.