CAF suspends Gabon, Djibouti from 2020 CHAN

The Organising Committee of the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN), has decided to suspend Gabon and Djibouti from participating in the competition in 2020.

In a meeting held in Rabat, Morocco, hosts of the next edition of the CHAN, it said the suspension was in accordance with the provisions of Article 59 of the regulations of the Total African Nations Championship.

According to CAF, the Gabon Football Federation, with few days to their qualifier against Equatorial Guinea, on August 5, 2017, sent a letter of withdrawal from the competition.

Djibouti on the other hand also communicated their withdrawal on 17 July 2017.

The actions violated Article 59 of the competition, which states that, “Any association declaring forfeit after the start of the matches is liable to a fine of ten thousand (10,000) US dollars.

It will also not be allowed to participate in the next edition of the CHAN.

Djibouti withdrew after playing in the first leg of the qualifiers against Ethiopia and has attracted additional fine of $10,000.

This is in accordance with Article 62 of the regulation which states that, “Any team that withdraws or refuses to play the return match after having played the first leg on its own territory must refund the association of the visiting team a minimum sum of ten thousand (10,000) US dollars in repair for the damage suffered by the host country.

By that, the Organising Committee has additionally sanctioned the Djibouti Football Federation to pay the sum of ten thousand (10,000) US dollars to the Ethiopia Football Federation.

The competition specifically organised for players plying their trade in their domestic league, would see its fifth edition staged early next year from January 13th to February 4th in Morocco and will be missing big names like DR Congo (defending champions), Ghana, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, South Africa and Algeria after failing to qualify.