Africa Cup of Nations organisers have confirmed teams will have to play matches provided they have 11 players available, should they be depleted by Covid-19 cases.
Cameroon’s match against Burkina Faso on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, will start the tournament, which features 52 fixtures, and the rules have been clarified about how teams will cope with absentees due to Covid-19.
Countries will be required to play a match if they have a minimum of 11 players who have tested negative, while in the absence of a goalkeeper, an outfield player from the team must replace the goalkeeper.
Any country that does not have a minimum of 11 players available will be considered to have lost the match 0-2.
Organisers have also outlined that each team will be permitted to use a maximum of five substitutes, with a maximum of three opportunities to make substitutions during the game.
Where extra time is played, teams will each be allowed one additional substitution, and will have one additional substitution opportunity.
Algeria are the reigning champions after a 1-0 final victory over Senegal when the competition was left held in Egypt in 2019.
