CAF increases AFCON squad list from 23 to 28 players per country

CAF increases AFCON squad list from 23 to 28 players per country

Lukman Mumuni
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:52 PM
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CAF Africa Cup of Nations logo
CAF AFCON
Africa
  • CAF has increased the number of players for AFCON 2021 from 23 to 28 for each country
  • The Confederation of African Football increased the number to provide back-ups in case of COVID
  • Each country will now present a squad of 28 players for the Nations Cup next year

The Confederation of African Football has agreed on the increment team squads from twenty-three players to twenty-eight for the upcoming Nations Cup.

Each country that has qualified for next year's Africa Cup Nations will now present a list of 28 players, five more than the previous squad numbers.

The Ghana Football Association confirmed the new arrangement on their official website as plans continue for the competition in Cameroon next year.

Black Stars squad and the AFCON trophy. SOURCE: Twitter/ @ghanafaofficial
CAF increases AFCON squad list from 23 to 28 players per country. SOURCE: Twitter/ @ghanafaofficial
Source: Twitter
A statement on the FA website read: "Number of additional players - The Organizing Committee of the Africa Cup of Nations has decided to increase the number of players to 5 additional players. Consequently, the list of players could be increased to a maximum of 28 players. This decision was taken to allow the participating teams have a larger squad list for the competition in case some players test positive for COVID 19."

Meanwhile, the addition of five players by each team in optional as CAF states emphatically that it will not bear the cost of the extra five players.

This means the FA can chose to include new players to the squad or not, but the decision is to allow flexibility in squads due to COVID-19.

Despite the changes, CAF still holds the three player substitutions per game but an extra change could be made if games go beyond 90 minutes.

The Black Stars are chasing a fifth AFCON title after last winning the competition in 1982.

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that, the Black Stars of Ghana, have moved a place up in the Coca-Cola FIFA Rankings for the month of October after back-to-back wins against Zimbabwe.

The Black Stars moved from the 53rd position to 52 following the home and away win against the Warriors in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

In the release for the month of October by FIFA, Ghana made the leap but maintained their seventh position on the African rankings.

Authors
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Lukman Mumuni
Lukman Abdul Mumin is a Sports Journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He has been writing for the past five years. Lukman joined Sports Brief as an Editor for the Local Desk in 2022.
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