While Chad was to make its debut this Thursday in the UNIFFAC tournament qualifying for the U17 AFCON, the team learned of its disqualification by mail. The Sao are accused of having kept in their group a player who would not be eligible in this age category.
The UNIFFAC U17 tournament has not yet started and there is already a lot of talking around the games. And if for the moment the teams in competition are still waiting to take onto the pitch, it is behind the scenes that hostilities are already launched with several controversies on the counter. They all have one thing in common: cases of ineligibility, with a significant number of players having been rejected in the famous MRI tests, consisting of an X-ray of the wrist to determine if they are eligible to take part in the qualifying tournament for the U17 AFCON.
Cameroon and DR Congo precedents
It all started on December 29 with the revelations of 21 cases of age fraud within the Cameroon team, out of the 30 players preselected by coach Jean-Pierre Fiala Fiala to take part in the UNIFAC tournament. Information that caused an outcry and led the Cameroon Football Federation to exclude the players concerned and establish a new list. First episode quickly followed by that of the DR Congo. The group of Leopards U17 in full preparation learned the exclusion of 25 players, pronounced by the Congolese Federation of soccer, for similar reasons.
"Following these tests, on the list of 40 players submitted, only 15 were validated and 25 dismissed," said the body in a statement. And to make matters worse, of the 15 remaining players, only five were administratively in order to be able to travel to Cameroon to play in the tournament. As a result, the DRC has withdrawn from the UNIFAC U17 tournament. After the Congolese withdrawal, it is Chad which is also in a position not to play the tournament.
