AFCON Qualifier: CAF Deducts Three Points From Nigeria

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), on Sunday deducted three points from the five points already amassed by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the qualification for AFCON 2017. The deduction of points followed the withdrawal of Chad from the qualification games due to financial constraints. Following Chad’s withdrawal, CAF had to invoke article 61 of the regulations guiding the competition, which states that; “If a team withdraws from the qualifying phase organised in groups, all its results shall be annulled (points, scored and conceded goals)”. This means that all of the games played by Chad are now cancelled, with all goals scored by them or against them, plus all points garnered cancelled.

In essence then, all of the remaining teams in Group G with Chad and Nigeria have been stripped of all points and goals scored against Chad. Thus, Egypt now has four points, Nigeria, two points, and Tanzania one point.

While the football federation of Chad has been fined USD20,000 and banned from participating in the next edition of the AFCON, Chad’s withdrawal means that only the top team in the group can now qualify for AFCON 2017 in Gabon,with the possibility of any of the teams qualifying as one of the best losers, now gone.