The Confederation of African Football ‘CAF’ have announced that all Sudanese clubs have been disqualified from the 2017 African competitions.
The decision comes following the suspension of the Sudanese Football Association because of government interference in the sport.
“Sudanese clubs participating in the CAF Interclub competitions have been disqualified following the decision by the Bureau of the FIFA Council to suspend the Sudan Football Association (SFA),” read a statement released by CAF early on Friday.
“In accordance with Article 13 of the FIFA Statutes, the SFA loses all its membership rights, and its representative and club teams are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted.
“In line with the decision, the three Sudanese clubs, El Hilal, El Merreikh (Total CAF Champions League) and Al Hilal Obeid (Total CAF Confederation Cup) are disqualified from the two competitions,” the statement added.
The suspension means that Mozambique’s Ferroviario Beira will join Tunisia’s Étoile du Sahel in the quarter-finals as they will automatically qualify from Group A. Already eliminated Al-Hilal were scheduled to host Ferroviário Beira on Friday, while El-Merreikh were set to face Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia.
Here is how Group A looked before the suspension:
Meanwhile, El-Hilal El-Obeid had already qualified to the quarter-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup, but after the suspension Zambia’s ZESCO United will qualify instead of them as group winners, and the winner of the encounter between Angola’s Recreativo do Libolo and Egypt’s Smouha will join them in progressing to the quarter-finals.
Here is how Group C looked before the suspension:
King Fut