African Hockey U-21 junior championship postponed over coronavirus fears

The African Hockey Federation(AfHF) on Thursday announced the cancellation of the 2021 U-21 junior African Cup championship, which was scheduled to have been stagged in Ghana, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought virtually every major event to a standstill.

This year’s tournament was initially scheduled to take place in Accra from March 21-28, 2021.

Following this, Ghana will now have the mandate to host the prestigious tournament in January 2022 hopefully the pandemic should have eased by then.

According to President of the Ghana Hockey Association, Dr. Ben K.D Asante who publicly made the decision known via press release noted that the move came as a result of concurrent hike in the Covid-19 cases globally.

“The decision was reached with the African Hockey Federation[AfHF] based on the covid-19 pandemic and concerns with the recent surge around the world” it read.

However, the Ghana Hockey Association said it will take due advantage of the time frame to set up a new astro-turf to meet the required standard of the International Federation of Hockey(FIH).

“Ghana Hockey Association will therefore have ample time to install a new ASTRO-TURF at the Theodosia Okoh National Hockey stadium as required by the International Federation of Hockey to host an international tournament sanctioned by the federation.”

Below is the full statement