The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will be delayed to allow players to rest after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The four-week long event will kick off on June 21 with the final set for July 19 instead of June 15 to July 13,2019.
The change was announced by the tournament director and former Egypt international Mohamed Fadl. Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that the draw for the final will be on April 12, 2019. Ramadan is the Muslims fast and prayer period where they withdraw from food and water from sunrise to sunset. All committed Muslims are to observed the holy month accordingly. Ramadan is expected to start in May and ends in June.
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will for the first time this year take place in the summer and feature 24 teams rather than sixteen.
Egypt was chosen to host the tournament replacing Cameroon, due to slow preparations and security concerns.
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