CAF Bans Rwanda from Africa Cup of Nations and Qualifiers
By: Opeyemi Oladunjoye
The Rwandan National Team has been disqualified from the Africa Cup of Nations and qualifiers after fielding an ineligible player in their qualifier against Congo.
The Rwandans, who secured a place in the group stages of qualification by beating Congo on penalties earlier this month after coming back from a 2-0 first-leg deficit, have now been banned from the competition by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following a protest from the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) during the first leg on July 20.
The Congolese staked their protest on the eligibility of Rwanda’s Birori Dady, who plays for club side, Vita Club with a Congolese passport under the name Etekiama Agiti Tady and with a different age.
In a statement, CAF said: “Following investigations by CAF and on the basis of documents provided by the federations of Rwanda, Congo and DR Congo, and hearing the player’s testimony on 11 August 2014 at CAF headquarters in Cairo, CAF established that the two identities only referred to a single person.
“While the Rwandan Football Federation (FERWAFA) maintained that to their knowledge the player Dady Birori had one identity, investigations revealed that he was summoned as Etekiama Agiti Tady by FERWAFA to join the national team of Rwanda.”
Congo have now been declared as the winners of the second-round tie and move into the group stages of qualification, where they will take on Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan.
Meanwhile, Dady has been suspended from club and national duty until further notice, with the exact length of his ban to be confirmed at a meeting of CAF organising committee.
Rwanda was booked to play Nigeria in the first AFCON Qualifier match in Calabar on September 6.
