The Africa Cup of Nations has been postponed until 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The competition was set to take place in January 2021, but the Confederation of African Football have amended this date for safety reasons.
The news will come as a boost for a number of top-flight teams, including newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds have the difficult task of defending their title next season, and would have had to have done so without the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita while the competition was taking place.
Liverpool's nearest title contenders Manchester City, meanwhile, would have been without winger Riyad Mahrez for the duration of the tournament.
Mahrez's Algeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 with a victory over Mane's Senegal in the final.
In other news, the African Nations Championship is now set to take place in January 2021. The competition was originally scheduled for April 2020.
Both the Africa Cup of Nations and the African Nations Championship will take place in Cameroon.
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