AFCON U-17
South Sudan disqualified from U-17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2023
The South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) has confirmed that their U-17 team has been disqualified from the U-17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which is on-going in Algeria.
Albino Kuek Deng, the SSFA spokesperson confirmed in a communication on April 29th that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had notified them about the disqualification after five players were 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.
“The South Sudan Football Association regrets to announce that our team has been disqualified from the AFCON U17 Algeria 2023 due to the non-eligibility of five (5) players after the MRI test,” said the communication.
Deng explained that the MRI test was conducted on the 26th April 2023 to ensure that all players meet the age eligibility criteria set by the competition’s regulations. “Unfortunately, we received yesterday 28th April 2023 notification from CAF that five of our players did not pass the MRI test and were deemed ineligible to participate in the competition, Although two of the five players were part of the team which participated in the zonal qualifiers and passed the MRI eligibility in Ethiopia last September 2022,” added the communication.
SSFA made it clear that they immediately wrote an official complaint to CAF medical committee against their decision attaching the MRI results done in Juba, in accordance to Article 27.6 sub article (iii) of the U17 regulations. “The complaint was rejected by the medical saying that their first and second readings remains the same,” added Deng.
SSFA say they will respect the decision made by the competition’s organizers. “We apologize to our fans, sponsors, and partners for any disappointment this may cause,” added the competition.
The African Football body further confirmed that after the disqualification of South Sudan, Group C will now have Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Meanwhile, Somalia suffered a 2-0 defeat to hosts Algeria in the opening Group A match at the U-17 AFCON. Algeria’s skipper Moslem Anatouf netted a brace at the match played at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.