Sports News of Thursday, 3 March 2011

Source: GNA

CAF reschedules U-20 Championship

Accra, March 3, GNA - The Confederation of African Football (CAF) ha= s rescheduled indefinitely the African U-20 Championship till further notice. The competition was scheduled to take place in Libya from March 18 to April 1, but the political upheaval in the North African country has made the place unsafe to stage the biennial championship.

A statement from the continent's soccer governing body culled by GNA Sports, said the competition has been rescheduled due to security concerns in Libya, whilst studying alternative options.

"Due to the security concerns and the current unstable political situation in Libya, the competition has been postponed to a later date and within a location to be confirmed by CAF in the next few days. "CAF will inform all parties of the new confirmed dates of the event= , which shall be held in the first half of the year," the statement on the CAF website read.

The two-week tourney will also determine the continent's representatives for the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held from 29 July to 20 August, 2011 in Colombia.

The rescheduling of the tournament will come as welcome news to the qualified teams, most of whom have suspended participation due to the uncertainty surrounding the host nation. Ghana's Black Satellites, the reigning continental and global champi= ons are housed in Group B alongside Nigeria, Cameroon and Gambia whilst Libya, Egypt, Mali and Lesotho make up Group A.