Djibouti and Sudan have been disqualified from the 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA Zone qualifiers after some of their players failed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests.Auka Gecheo, the CECAFA Executive Director confirmed that the CAF Youth Organizing Committee decided to disqualify the two teams in accordance with article 27.4 of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations regulations which states that “If after performing the age eligibility test (MRI) for a participating team and one (1) player was found non-eligible, the participating team will be disqualified.”Sudan, Djibouti disqualified from U-17 AFCON CECAFA Zonal Qualifiers. pic.twitter.com/M4g6PgvpdG— Cecafaonline (@Cecafaonline) October 1, 2022 Both Djibouti and Sudan were grouped together in Group B in the initial draw alongside Uganda and Burundi.The disqualification comes just days after Eritrea and Rwanda withdrew from the tournament just days to kick off.Eritrea were in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan while Rwanda was pooled together with the defending champions Uganda in Group B alongside Djibouti, Sudan, and Burundi.To that effect, defending champions Uganda will kick off the qualifier against Burundi tomorrow following a slight rearrangement that saw South Sudan join the two teams in Group B, with Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Somalia remaining in Group A.Eritrea and Rwanda withdraw from U17 AFCON qualifiersLater on Monday, hosts Ethiopia will take on Somalia in a Group A opening match for the tournament that is now set to climax on October 15, 2022.The winners and runners-up will qualify to represent the region in the U-17 AFCON 2023 in Algeria.Group A: Ethiopia, Somalia, TanzaniaGroup B: Uganda, Burundi, South Sudan
