This archive report was first published on 11 May 2020.
On May 11, 2020, the African Hockey Federation (AHF) announced the rescheduling of several international hockey events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) has welcomed this decision, which affects the men and women's North-East Region qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The qualifiers were initially set for May 11-17 but have been rescheduled for the last quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021 in Nairobi. KHU chairman Nashon Randiek stated that they will await the official dates to be released.
According to Randiek, the provisional squads are in place, and coaches are monitoring the players' progress through social media. However, he expressed concerns about the players' discipline in conducting their personal training sessions.
On the same day, AHF issued a statement rescheduling several international events, including the Indoor Africa Cup, which was initially set for June 12-14, 2020, in Durban, South Africa. The event has been rescheduled for September.
Despite the rescheduling, the dates for this year's Africa Cup for Clubs Championship, set for November 30-December 5 in Malawi, remain unchanged. Kenya's men's team will face Burundi, Libya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Seychelles in the North-East qualifiers, while the women's team will battle Egypt, Burundi, Libya, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda for the two qualification slots.
The top two teams from each region will join the top two ranked countries on the continent to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations. South Africa (women) and Egypt (men) are the top-ranked nations in the continent. The Africa Cup of Nations, initially set for August 2021, has been moved to October.
