The decision was announced at a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee meeting today.

The tournament was due to take place in January and February 2021 in Cameroon, but has now been postponed until January 2022, with the new dates for the tournament yet to be agreed.

Only hosts Cameroon have qualified for the event, with international matches currently on hold as a result of the pandemic.

Dates for remaining qualifying matches have also yet to be announced.

Only two of the six group matches to choose the other 23 teams had been completed before the halt to international sport caused by the virus, with the top two teams in each of the 12 groups qualifying.

Meanwhile, the CAF Executive Committee also provided updates on other competitions at its meeting today.

The Total African Nations Championship, due to take place in Cameroon in 2020 has been postponed until January 2021.

Interclub competitions the Total CAF Champions League and Total CAF Confederation Cup will resume in September with semifinals, played over a single match.

The 2020 Women's Africa Cup of Nations has been cancelled, while the CAF Women's Champions League will be launched in 2021.

The under-17 African Cup of Nations is now scheduled to take place in July 2021, while talks are ongoing over arrangements for zonal qualification matches for this tournament.

In other business, the 42nd CAF Ordinary General Assembly has been rescheduled for December 2020 in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

CAF's Elective General Assembly is now scheduled to take place on March 12 2021.

The 2020 CAF Awards have been cancelled as a result of the pandemic.

Finally, an update was given on financial support provided to member associations to help them through the challenges posed by the pandemic.

CAF has allocated $16.2 million (£13 million/€14.4 million) to assist member associations, with each association eligible for up to $300,000 (£242,000/€266,000).