The Confederation of African Football, CAF, yesterday said the dates for the 2019 African Nations Cup finals in Egypt have been moved back by a week.
The shift was reportedly to allow players to rest after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that is likely to begin on the evening of May fifth and end around June fourth.
The expanded 24-team tournament will now kick-off on June twenty-first and run through to the final on July nineteenth.
According to reports, a request was made for the move by a number of mainly Muslim North African nations, including Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, who have all already sealed qualification.
CAF also confirmed that the draw for the first round pool stage will take place in Cairo on April twelfth.
Fourteen countries have already booked a finals berth, including first time participants Madagascar and Mauritania, with the remaining ten places to be decided when the qualification campaign concludes in March.
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