AFCON Qualifier: Sao Tomé Kicked Out, Nigeria Now To Face Mauritius

Sao Tomé and Principe have been kicked out of the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for fielding players who tested positive for COVID-19. They have now to be replaced by Mauritius.

The Super Eagles were initially billed to face São Tomé and Príncipe in Group A of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.

The Director of Competitions of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Mr Samson Adamu has confirmed that Mauritius won a case it filed against Sao Tomé and Príncipe concerning their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary qualifying fixture, and will therefore join the combatants in Group A of the qualification series starting next month.

Victory for Mauritius at the CAF Disciplinary Committee means they now join Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau in Group A of the six-match phase that ends in March next year.

Nigeria will play Sierra Leone in Abuja on Thursday 9th June and then play Mauritius on Monday 13th June.

Mauritius had filed a protest against São Tomé and Príncipe, who won their preliminary qualifying fixture, insisting that one São Tomé player had tested positive for COVID-19.

“The matter became somewhat more interesting because the player at the centre of the controversy is the one that scored the only goal of the match,” said the NFF’s source at the time.