By TalkAfrica Desk
Algiers, Algeria
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has disqualified the South Sudan team from the U-17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which kicked off in Algeria on April 29th.
In a communication sent today, CAF says the South Sudan team has been disqualified because they had more than three players not eligible in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
The MRI, is a noninvasive medical imaging test that produces detailed images of almost every internal structure in the human body, including the organs, bones, muscles and blood vessels. It is used by CAF to determine if a player is eligible to play in the U-17 competition.
“Please note that the South Sudan U17 National Team has been disqualified from the competition for having more than three players not eligible in the MRI test. Reference to the CAF circular letter dated April 11th: “If after having performed the eligibility test (IRM) for a participating team and, that (4) of its players or more are found not eligible, the entire participating team will be disqualified,” stated the letter from CAF signed by the Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu.
The African Football body further confirmed that Group C will now have Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso. At the end of the group matches, the two teams that finish first and second in each group as well as the two best teams among those who finish in third place will qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Organizing Committee for CAF Youth Competitions has also modified the criteria for determining the two best teams classified in third place since the Group C teams do not play the same number of matches as Groups A and B.
The Committee says while the criteria mentioned in the regulations to determine the first and second of the groups remain unchanged in accordance with Articles 59 and 60 of the Regulation. For the classification of the two best teams of the 3rd place, in order to ensure an equal number of matches in the comparison between the three groups; the result of the 3rd team against the 4th in the group will not be counted. “The two matches which will therefore be taken into consideration to determine the 2 best teams classified in 3rd place will be their matches played against the first and the second of the group. It must be applied in groups A and B. (in group C there will be no fourth team anyway),” explained the communication.
