Chronicle Editor
The national football team of Chad has been disqualified from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Chad’s expulsion from the qualification stage for the showpiece tournament was announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Monday after the nation’s government withdrew support and effectively disbanded the national football association.
As a result, Group A rivals Namibia and Mali have both been awarded three points for their matches which were scheduled to take place later this week, which leaves the group finely poised heading into the upcoming qualifiers.
“Following the withdrawal of the FTF’s approval by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Chad, CAF has decided to disqualify the Chad national team from the qualifiers for the Total Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021,” the governing body for African football in a statement on Monday.
“Consequently, scheduled qualifier matches between Namibia (match 106) and Mali (match 130) for Total AFCON 2021 are cancelled. In line with Article 61 read together with Article 64 of the CAF Regulations, Chad is considered a loser of both matches against Namibia and Mali…”
Mali (13 points) have already qualified for next year’s tournament while Guinea (eight points) need just one win from their remaining two matches against the table-toppers or Namibia (six points) to secure their place at the event. – KickOff
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