THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the elimination of Zimbabwe’s Warriors and Kenya from the AFCON 2023 qualifiers scheduled to begin next month.

This was after the two nations failed to meet FIFA conditions for the lifting of their suspension by the world football mother body.

Early this year, FIFA suspended Zimbabwe from international tournaments after the Sport and Recreational Commission suspending the Felton Kamambo led ZIFA board, in what FIFA deemed third party interference in football matters.

FIFA demanded the reinstatement of the ZIFA board and withdrawal of court cases against Kamambo as conditions for the lifting of the sanctions, and Zimbabwe has since failed to meet the conditions.

CAF had however included Zimbabwe and Kenya in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers draw but indicated that the two nations were supposed to meet FIFA conditions two weeks before the qualifiers begin in June. 

CAF has since communicated on its website that the two countries will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition, meaning that Groups C and K will be composed only of three teams, while the order of the matches will be maintained.

Zimbabwe had been drawn in group K alongside neighbours South Africa, Sierra Leone and Morocco, while Kenya was in group C, which also comprised Cameroon, Namibia and Burundi.

-ZBC