Cairo, Apr 12 (IANS): The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said in a statement on Saturday that it will postpone the African Champions League and the Confederation Cup semifinal matches indefinitely over COVID-19 concerns.

The CAF Emergency Committee noted that both legs that were scheduled for May 1-3 and 8-10 will be postponed "until further notice" and that "a new schedule will be announced in due time," according to Xinhua news.

The CAF said the decision was made "in light of growing concerns and evolving nature on COVID-19 amidst lockdown in most countries." The two postponed championships involve teams from Egypt, Morocco and Guinea.

FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup Qualifiers that was initially scheduled for May 1-3 and 15-17 will be similarly delayed, according to the statement. "Meanwhile, CAF is monitoring the situation closely and working with the relevant authorities such as the Wealth Health Organization on the impact of the virus on the continent," it added.

Most countries worldwide cancelled sports activities to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has so far infected over 1.6 million people around the globe with more than 100,000 reported deaths.