Nigeria will play São Tomé and Príncipe in Group A of the qualifying series for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals.
This comes after the Confederation of African Football Appeals Board threw out Mauritius from the pool following the successful appeal of the former.
Earlier, Mauritius won a case against the island nation at the CAF Disciplinary Board for fielding a player who tested positive for COVID-19. However, the Appeals Board has restored São Tomé and Príncipe to the race and ejected Mauritius.
Mauritius had protested to CAF that São Tomé and Príncipe player, Luis Leal Dos Anjos, did not undergo the obligatory PCR test during their match on March 24, 2022, during the preliminary round of the AFCON 2023 qualifiers.
However, the Appeal Board ruled that “given that neither the CAF Disciplinary Code nor CAF’s COVID-19 protocols provide any sanctions for missing an obligatory PCR test, it is legally baseless to consider the player in question to be ineligible.”
Reacting to the development, the new Super Eagles Head Coach, Jose Peseiro, stated that the team was focused on its next friendly with Ecuador and would play whatever opponent they faced.
“We are focused on the friendly game with Ecuador. It is neither here nor there. We play whoever is in front of us,” the Portuguese stated.
The Appeals Board decision means Nigeria’s away fixture on June 13, 2022, will now be played in Marrakech, Morocco, instead of Mauritius, since São Tomé and Príncipe do not have a CAF approved stadium in their country.
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