Details Why CAF Disqualified Chad From 2021 AFCON Qualifiers

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that Chad have been disqualified from 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers over government interference in football matters.

In a statement issued on Monday, CAF acted after the Chadian Minister of Youth and Sports withdrew powers from the Federation of Chad Football Associations (FTFA) on 10 March.

CAF had previously sent a team to N’djamena in a bid to avoid a suspension from international football for the country after the Minister made a request to FTFA to provisionally withdraw its mandate in December 2020.

“Following the suspension of the Chadian Football Federation by the Chadian Ministry of Youth and Sports, CAF has decided to disqualify the national team of Chad from the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations 2021,” a Caf statement said.

“Consequently, scheduled qualifier matches between Namibia (match 106) and Mali (match 130) for Total AFCON 2021 are canceled.

“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.”

Chad were already out of the race to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals having managed only one point in four matches played in Group A.

Mali lead the group with 13 points from five matches, with Guinea second on eight points from four games.

The Syli Nationale host Mali on Wednesday and will qualify for the finals with a win or post a draw in their final match against Namibia. 

Chad were scheduled to first host Namibia before travelling to face Mali, who have already secured a place at the Nations Cup in Cameroon.