(Reuters) – Sao Tome and Principe have been kicked out of the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after ahead Luis Leal failed to offer a legitimate COVID-19 check previous to their preliminary spherical victory over Mauritius in March.
The skilled Leal scored within the 1-0 first leg victory. The second leg, additionally performed in Mauritius, completed 3-3 as Sao Tome superior on combination to the pool levels.
But an enchantment by the Mauritians has been upheld by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), who’ve awarded them the primary leg end result 3-0.
“The CAF Disciplinary Board discovered Sao Tome e Principe Football Federation responsible of fielding an ineligible participant for the stated match and imposed a forfeit of the match performed towards Mauritius,” CAF stated in a press release on Monday.
“Furthermore, the Disciplinary Board has additionally imposed a advantageous of $10,000 towards the Sao Tome and Principe Football Federation.”
Mauritius take their opponents’ place in Group A of the qualifiers, which additionally contains Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. The prime two groups advance to subsequent 12 months’s finals within the Ivory Coast.
There will probably be two rounds of qualifiers every in June, September and March to find out the 24 finalists.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)
