January 5 – Concacaf has cancelled its U-20 men’s championship, which would have qualified teams for the U-20 World Cup, and its U17 men’s World Cup qualification competition scheduled for 2021.
The decision was taken following FIFA’s announcement at the end of last year that it was calling off the 2021 editions of its U-17 World Cup in Peru and its U-20 World Cup in Indonesia in 2021. The countries have instead been given the hosting rights to the 2023 competitions.
In a statement, Concacaf said: “Given FIFA’s decision, the continued uncertainty regarding the impact of COVID-19 in our own region and concerns regarding youth teams traveling in this environment, Concacaf has come to the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Concacaf Under-17 Qualifiers and Championship, and the 2020 Concacaf Under-20 Championship.”
Concacaf had not set a date or venue for the U-17 men’s competition which would have qualified four teams for the Peru-hosted U-17 World Cup.
Honduras were to host the 20-team U-20 championships in June/July last year, in time to qualify for teams for the now cancelled Indonesia World Cup. Concacaf postponed that competition in May.
No new dates have been announced for the age group competitions though they look likely now to be rearranged for 2023 World Cup qualification.
FIFA had already cancelled its U-17 and U-20 women’s World Cups that were originally rescheduled for 2021 in India and Costa Rica but were then cancelled with the nations being awarded the hosting rights for the age group competitions in 2022.
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