Rabat – Casablanca is set to host the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for North Africa (UNAF U-17) from November 11 to 23, as the Atlas Cubs will be pushing for a place in the Africa Cup finals.
Morocco was last year’s runner-up, and open their campaign against Egypt in the first round tomorrow on Monday. Tunisia and Algeria will clash in the other opening match.
This tournament is structured as a five-round mini-league. Within each round, one team sits out, while the top two in the league will book their tickets to the U-17 AFCON.
Full Schedule:
Round 1: Monday, November 11
Algeria vs Tunisia
Morocco vs Egypt
Round 2: Thursday, November 14
Egypt vs Algeria
Tunisia vs Libya
Round 3: Sunday, November 17
Morocco vs Tunisia
Libya vs Algeria
Round 4: Wednesday, November 20
Tunisia vs Egypt
Libya vs Morocco
Round 5: Saturday, November 23
Algeria vs Morocco
Egypt vs Libya
Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has disqualified three teams from the U-17 qualifiers — including Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau — because of age fraud. The decision came just hours before the start of West African qualifiers (UFOA-A) in Senegal where these teams were set to compete for a place in the U17 AFCON finals.
CAF ran MRI tests that revealed that some players were too old. This is a major blow to the teams involved and brings back memories of past age-related scandals. For Guinea, this isn’t a first. They were banned for two years in 2019 for similar issues in the Youth Africa Cup in Tanzania.
Age fraud is a serious problem in youth football in Africa and remains a real challenge. Past penalties haven’t stopped these practices. However, this decision shows CAF is serious about eradicating these unlawful tricks, in order to even up the ground for fair and competitive games.
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