Mauritius beats Sao Tomé and Príncipe in appeal, now to play Nigeria

 

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Director of Competitions of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Mr Samson Adamu has confirmed to thenff.com 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 our source at the time.

WAFU B CHAMPIONSHIP: Flying Eagles seek Egypt 2023 ticket against Cote d’Ivoire

Group B winners Nigeria will on Tuesday confront the second –placed team in Group A, Cote d’Ivoire in the second semi final of the ongoing WAFU B U20 Championship in Niamey, Niger Republic.

At stake is a ticket to next year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt, already scheduled for 18th February – 12th March. Only the two finalists from the WAFU B tournament will qualify for the eight-team finals in Egypt.

Ladan Bosso’s wards will file out against the Ivorians at the Stade General Seyni Kountché at 8pm, after the first semi final between Benin Republic and Burkina Faso at the same venue.

Ibrahim Muhammad and Ahmed Abdullahi scored the goals that consigned African champions Ghana to a 2-0 defeat last Sunday, before the Flying Eagles drew 2-2 with Burkina Faso on Wednesday. The latter’s 2-1 defeat of Ghana earned them a place in the last four.

Despite scorer Ahmed Abdullahi’s injury that has knocked him out of the tournament, Coach Ladan Bosso is confident that his boys will rise to the occasion against the Ivorians and pick a ticket to Egypt.