By Victor Kanayo
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that all participating countries in the forthcoming Africa Under 17 Cup of Nations, will undergo compulsory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests.
This year’s competition is slated to kick-off in Algeria, as from April 29.
This is after CAF’s Executive Committee held its meeting in April and examined the Article 27 of the U17 AFCON regulations, following the recommendations made by the Youth Organising Committee and the Medical Organizing Committee.
In this respect, CAF Executive Committee, decided to make the following modifications to the Article 27 of the regulations of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
According to the article; an eligibility test will be compulsorily performed for all the participating teams before the start of the matches.
The modification comes into effect from the date of notification of this decision and will be applied in the final tournament of the U17 AFCON.
It reads, “If after performing the eligibility test (MRI) for a participating team and four (4) or more of its players are found ineligible, the participating team will be disqualified.
“If after performing an MRI test for a participating team and one (1), two (2) or three (3) of its players are found ineligible, the said player(s) will not be allowed to participate in the competition. The concerned team will be allowed to participate in the competition but is not authorized to replace the ineligible player(s).
“The following procedures shall be followed: All participating teams are expected to arrive five (5) days before the start of the competition. The host association shall cover the related costs.
“The participating teams may be subjected to MRI tests, to be conducted at the earliest five (5) days before the start of the competition. CAF reserves the right to conduct an MRI Test at any time before or during the competition.
“Any request for a second reading for a player found to be ineligible shall be addressed to CAF by email not later than 3 hours following notification of the outcome of the first reading.’’
