CAF enforces its regulations without leniency, as demonstrated by the recent experience of Somalia. The country’s U17 team has been disqualified from the CAN qualifiers in its category for failing to adhere to one of the competition’s crucial regulations.
CAF contends that Somalia did not comply, like all other teams, with the rigorous age verification of all players in its selection. For the past two years, CAF has employed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to scrutinize the ages of all players participating in youth competitions to prevent any potential fraud. Despite granting Somalia a deadline until October 4 to meet this requirement, the nation failed to do so.
Despite having defeated Sudan and secured qualification for the next round of qualifiers, Somalia is now compelled to forfeit its place. Sudan will now go on to face Algeria in the subsequent phase of the qualifications. The first legs are scheduled for October 19, 20, and 21, with the return matches set to take place over the weekend of November 2 to 4.
