Chad disqualified from Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers following government interference in football

The Confederation of African Football has disqualified Chad from the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations after the government disbanded the Chadian Football Federation this month.

The country’s minister for youth and sports, on March 10, released a statement to prevent the FTFA from performing its obligatory duties due to a reported dispute between both parties.

Following Caf’s punishment on Monday, Chad face another severe punishment from Fifa which could be a ban from competitions.

“By the definitive withdrawal of this delegation of powers, it is formally forbidden for the (FTFA) to participate in the various international meetings and to organise or participate in any other national or international competition or event on behalf of Chad,” the statement cited by Goal read.

Ahead of Chad’s final Afcon qualifiers against Namibia and Mali this week, Caf made the decision to drop the Central African country out of the competition billed for Cameroon in January 2022.

They sit at the bottom of Group A with a point after four games while Mali maintain their dominance at the top with 10 points while Guinea follow in second spot with eight points and Namibia with three points.

“Following the withdrawal of the FTF’s approval by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Chad, Caf has decided to disqualify the Chad national team from the qualifiers for the Total Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021,” the Caf statement read.

“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 playing in Group A alongside Mali, Guinea and Namibia. After four matchdays, Mali tops the group on 10 points, followed by Guinea (8 points) and Namibia (3 points). Chad were trailing the group on one point.”