Amid rumours that the continent's main soccer event might be postponed for a second time because of the pandemic, or even moved outside Africa, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said this week it will open as planned on January 9 at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde.
It is not clear though when coaches will have their players with leagues insisting they will not release them until January 3, a week later than stipulated by FIFA.
The World Leagues Forum wrote to FIFA and CAF on Thursday insisting the earlier date was "unreasonable and disproportionate" and any sanction imposed by FIFA on clubs not releasing players then would be deemed "abusive, null and void."
European clubs, citing the pandemic, have said they fear for the wellbeing of their African players and have been reluctant to allow them to go to Cameroon at all.
The absence of superstars like Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and others would be a serious blow to the tournament.
Thus, while CAF president Patrice Motsepe said he expected it to be "an exceptional tournament" African soccer will settle for one that goes off without serious problems.
There was a battle even before the virus to get the Central African nation ready to stage its biggest sporting event since hosting the first AFCON in 1972.
Cameroon successfully staged the eight-team Women's AFCON in 2016 but this has twice as many teams playing in six stadia in five cities rather than two.
Cameroon was initially due to host the 2019 event but was stripped of that tournament because of problems with its preparations and given a second chance in 2021. Then, the finals were put back a year because of the pandemic.
Now the virus has forced a host country still struggling with getting stadiums ready for the finals to take on the additional challenge of ensuring Africa's most popular sports event doesn't become a virus super-spreader.
To satisfy Cameroon authorities, CAF has agreed that only fully vaccinated fans who also have proof of negative COVID-19 tests will be allowed to attend games.
This is set to leave most of the 52 games to go ahead in near-empty stadiums as fewer than three per cent of Cameroon's 26 million population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The soccer-mad West and Central African countries around Cameroon also have vaccination rates of well below 10 per cent, so many other fans won't be travelling.
As for the players, there will be screening at every stadium, training ground and tournament venue.
There are other issues.
Cameroon is cutting it fine to have stadiums ready.
The main Olembe Stadium, which will host the opening game between Cameroon and Burkina Faso, and the final on February 6, is undergoing a $US370 million ($A512 million) revamp but hasn't yet been officially opened. It was so far behind schedule last month that CAF threatened to move the opening game.
Cameroon has missed deadlines on other stadiums, too.
The country also has a violent insurgency in its south-western region, where militias have fought for years to form a breakaway state near Limbe, one of the tournament's five host cities. Last month, an explosion at a university campus injured 13 students about a mile from an official African Cup training ground.
