Zimbabwe and Kenya will not compete in AFCON qualifying games, according to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
On Monday, May 23rd, 2022, the African football governing body, CAF, made this declaration. FIFA made the decision due to political influence in both Zimbabwe and Kenya, according to sources from the organization.
As a consequence of having failed to have their suspensions by FIFA set aside, CAF has confirmed that both Kenya and Zimbabwe will not participate in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 qualifiers. The qualifiers will kick off on the first day of June 2022.
Both sides were featured in the draw with the expectation that FIFA’s ban would be lifted two weeks before the first qualifying round.
Below are the sanctions both teams will face
The two associations; Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition. Groups C and K will be composed only of three teams and the order of the matches will be maintained in accordance with the match schedule that has been communicated to the teams after the draw. The first and runner-up teams of those groups will qualify for the final tournament
At the end of the qualifying games, the top two teams will receive automatic qualifications for the African Cup of Nations, which will be held in Ivory Coast in 2023.
