The opening match of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations between hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso is in doubt after Burkina Faso threatened to pull out of the match due to alleged tampering of the results of COVID-19 tests of its players and staff.
The game is set to be played at the Olembe Stadium in the capital Yaoundé later on Sunday.
Tests done on Saturday revealed that nine team members, among them five players and the head coach, Kamou Malo, tested positive for COVID-19 prompting the the Burkinabè Football Federation to write a protest letter to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) complaining of possible manipulation.
Burkina Faso wants a second round of testing done by independent doctors in the presence of their medical staff claiming the disputed tests carried out were not PCR tests, which must be done 48 hours before the match.
Burkina Faso’s assistant coach Firmin Sanou alleged that the players who were found to have tested positive for the virus were actually not positive.
“We cannot be told at the eve of the game that they (players) are positive. This is unacceptable,” Sanou said.
“Officials need to think and bring a transparent team from CAF to come and conduct the tests so that we will be sure the players will not participate in the match.”
Stallions captain Bertrand Traore said the incident was a disgrace and called on authorities to review the organization.
“It’s a scandal, we cannot be deprived of first team players 24 hours before the match.”
“We cannot accept this decision. We can redo tests of our positive players.”
Following the onset of the pandemic, African football has been hit by accusations of authorities of home teams tampering with COVID-19 results in both continental club and national matches.
Last January, Ghanaian club Asante Kotoko wrote to CAF to protest alleged anomalies in its team members’ COVID-19 results prior to its Champions League preliminary round second leg against Al Hilal of Sudan, while, in March, Benin declined to play their final AFCON qualifying match against Sierra Leone in protest against local authorities declaring at least five of their players tested positive for COVID-19.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)