AFCON 2023 Q: Zimbabwe, Kenya Lose Raise While ‘Getting Set’

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have communicated via official handles, the decision to put Zimbabwe and Kenya aside, with the both teams not meeting terms to compete in the AFCON qualifiers, having been struck with FIFA bans earlier this year.

The CAF statement reads;

As a consequence of having failed to have their suspensions by FIFA set aside, CAF has confirmed that both Kenya and Zimbabwe will not participate in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 qualifiers.

The qualifiers will kick-off on the first day of June 2022.

CAF had included them in the official draw earlier in April 2022 on condition that the suspension must be lifted two weeks before their first match day.

Kenya and Zimbabwe, suspended for political interference, have not yet met the criteria required by the FIFA Congress as a prerequisite for lifting their suspension. As a result:

Because of the suspension, the following will apply:

• The two associations; Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition.
• Groups C and K will be composed only of three teams and the order of the matches will be maintained in accordance with the match schedule that has been communicated to the teams after the draw.
• The first and runner-up teams of those groups will qualify to the final tournament.

For starters, Fifa decided to suspend both federations on Thursday, February 24.

The decision was taken due to government interference according to the World Football Governing Body