• Sat. Apr 20th, 2024

AFCON Qualifiers: Chad Axed As Ban Looms

Confederation of African Football

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has disqualified Chad from the remainder of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, following government interfererence in the country’s football federation.

The Chadian Ministry of Youth and Sports stripped the country’s football federation of its powers on March 10 following concerns over the way it was being run and a breakdown in communication, and will now likely also face a ban from Fifa.

With no chance of qualifying for the finals in Cameroon and already rooted in the bottom of Group A, Chad will no longer play their upcoming matches against Namibia.

Football’s governing bodies have strict rules in place which punish political involvement in national football federations.

Already-qualified Mali now lead Group A with 13 points from five matches, with Guinea second on eight points from four games.

Guinea host Mali on Wednesday and will qualify for the finals with a win, but any other result will see them travel to Namibia for a qualification decider on Sunday.