Egypt seek postponement of Nations Cup qualifier
Reuters - Sunday 27 February 2011, 08:24
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Egypt have asked the
Confederation of African Football to postpone an African Nations
Cup qualifier in South Africa because of the recent civil unrest
in their country, a CAF spokesman confirmed on Sunday.
Egypt want the game, scheduled for March 26 in Johannesburg,
to be put back to June because of a shutdown of their premier
league programme following the riots and demonstrations that led
to the toppling of president Hosni Mubarak earlier this month.
Egyptian clubs have not played league matches since early
January and the federation feels their players will not have had
the requisite preparation for the qualifier.
CAF said they had received a request from the Egypt Football
Association and would discuss it over the next few days.
It is a key game for Egypt, who have won the last three
Nations Cup finals, because they have fallen three points behind
South Africa in the standings after the first two rounds of
matches.
Only the group winner is guaranteed a place at the 2012
finals, co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Egypt have asked CAF to consider their situation a case of
'force majeure', which would allow them to claim a postponement
because of circumstances beyond their control.