November 11 – Equatorial Guinea have been reinstated by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to play at the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after they won an appeal to overturn their ban.
Last month Kenya had been awarded a place in the final tournament, which Ghana will stage, when CAF excluded Equatorial Guinea for fielding an ineligible player in qualifying, but the governing body’s appeal board ruled differently, allowing the two-times champions to return to the competition.
CAF’s Appeal Board stated that “the player Annette Jacky Messomo is eligible to play for the national team of Equatorial Guinea.” In the original ruling CAF had upheld a protest from the Football Kenya Federation over the eligibility of Messomo. CAF at the time agreed with the Kenyans, saying that “the player in question was allegedly of Cameroonian nationality and had played for several European based clubs.”
Equatorial Guinea will replace Kenya and open their campaign against Zambia on November 18 before taking on South Africa and the reigning champions Nigeria.
This year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will be the eleventh edition of the tournament and the continental showpiece also serves as the qualification tournament for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713575741labto1713575741ofdlr1713575741owedi1713575741sni@o1713575741fni1713575741