Football

Eritrea, Rwanda withdraw from AFCON U17 qualifiers

by
Mike Barasa
September 27, 2022

Rwanda U17 team in a past tournament. PHOTO/CECAFA

Rwanda and Eritrea say they are not able to send teams
The qualifiers are set for Addis Ababa
There will be invited referees from other regions

Eritrea and Rwanda have said they will not be able to send teams to the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) regional qualifiers for the 2023 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

CECAFA has received communication from the two Member Associations that they will not be able to send teams for the qualifiers to take place in Addis Ababa.

Yusuf Mossi, the CECAFA Competitions manager says each group will now remain with four teams with eight confirmed nations sending teams while the fixtures will be adjusted.

After the withdrawal of the two teams, the qualifiers are now expected to take place October 1-14th. Uganda are the defending champions after lifting the trophy in 2020 in Rwanda.

Top two into semis

The best two teams from each group will qualify for the semi finals. The winners and runners-up will qualify to represent the region in the U-17 AFCON 2023 in Algeria.

Apart from Eritrea and Rwanda, Kenya will also not be participating as the country is currently serving a FIFA suspension and cannot play in international matches.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Jelly Chavani is among the referees from other Zones that have been invited to officiate during the tournament.

Egypt and Nigeria officials also invited

Egypt’s Mahmoud Ahmed Nagi Musa and Kassim Abdelsalam (Nigeria) are the other referees who have been invited by the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) to officiate during the qualifiers.

The defending champions Uganda who lifted the trophy in 2020 when the tournament was held in Rwanda are placed in Group B alongside Djibouti, Sudan and Burundi. Group A has hosts Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia and South Sudan.

The winners and runners-up will qualify to represent the region in the U-17 AFCON 2023 in Algeria.