By AFP
The Gambia on Saturday canceled their two prep matches for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations due to a surfeit of COVID-19 cases in their squad.
The decision came just hours before they were due to play Algeria in Doha — the other match was against Syria on Tuesday.
“Due to the unavailability of 16 of our 28-man squad our friendlies ahead of the Cup of Nations against Algeria and Syria have both been canceled,” the Gambian Football Federation (GFF) said in a statement.
The team’s Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet explained via Facebook that the swathe of absences were due to “COVID-19, other illness, injuries and restrictions to travel.”
The Algerians were less than pleased with the late notice.
“The Gambians decided unilaterally to cancel the match hours before kick-off on the pretext that they were lacking a goalkeeper!” stormed the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) in a statement.
The cancellations are hardly ideal preparation for the Gambia ahead of their first appearance at the biennial African football showpiece being hosted by Cameroon and which runs from January 9 to February 6.
They open their campaign on January 12 against Mauretania, followed by Mali four days later and round off their group matches against Tunisia on January 20.
