AFCON Updates: Mali at Risk of Disqualification

A report from Egyptian publication, Kingfut has it that Group E team, Mali, may be kicked out of the Africa Cup of Nations which is due to kickoff in 10 days time.

The report has it that FIFA was set to place a suspension on the Mali Football Federation.

Mali are set in group E in the 2019 AFCON alongside Tunisia, Mauritania and Angola. African news outlet “Africanews” has reported that the Malian Football Federation, Fémafoot, has been under the supervision of a standardization committee since 2017, to organize the federations’ affairs and prevent the political interference in football.

Nevertheless, Fémafoot have been struggling for two years, as the General Assembly hadn’t been able to approve the new statutes and organisations proposed by the standardization committee.

A general meeting by Malian Federation is set to take place on Sunday, June 15, where they should be expected to approve the committee orders and organize new elections and choose a new president for Fémafoot.



As a result, FIFA have sent a threat to all stakeholders that if the general meeting fails to reach a final decision, the Malian Federation will be suspended and Mali will not be allowed to compete in the 2019 AFCON.

With two weeks remaining for the start of the tournament, which is taking place in Egypt, Mali will have to wait till next Sunday to discover their fate.

Shall Mali be suspended, CAF will most probably be forced to disrupt the smooth running of Group E as Tunisia, Angola, and Mauritania will compete in a three-team group.

Africanews also issued the possibility that CAF could choose to draw either the third from Mali’s group in qualifying, and it would then be Gabon, or Burkina Faso, as the best third in the entire qualification phase.

Source:Kingfut