KAMPALA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has appealed to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over the suspension of three of their players from the on-going 2019 U-17 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
"We have submitted an appeal to CAF because we think we followed all the procedures and we are shocked that three of our players have been affected," Edgar Watson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda FA, told Xinhua on Thursday.
On Aug. 11, CAF suspended 11 players including three from Uganda after they failed the magnetic resonance imaging tests conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania before the tournament kicked-off.
The three Ugandan players who were found overage and suspended are George Oluka, Joseph Kafumbe and Elvis Ngonde.
Watson said that all the players were tested before they traveled to Tanzania for the tournament.
"We have appealed because we think as per our tests all the players are qualified to participate in the tournament," added Watson.
Besides Uganda the other countries that had players suspended after failing the tests are Kenya (3), Burundi (1), South Sudan (1), Tanzania (2) and Sudan (1).
After being depleted by three players who are not allowed to be replaced, Uganda started the campaign with 1-0 loss to Ethiopia.
The qualifiers have attracted Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Djibouti. Somalia's team failed to travel for the tournament.
Only one team will advance from the qualifiers for the CECAFA region to join the other teams from other regions. But Tanzania have already qualified as hosts of the 2019 AFCON U-17 slated to run from May 12-26.
Other teams from different zones will also battle in the qualifiers. Enditem
