Africa Cup Of Nations 2012: Namibia To Appeal Burkina Faso’s Place In Tournament

Following two defeats to Burkina Faso in Africa Cup Of Nations 2012 Qualifying, Namibia is appealing the qualifying results and Burkina Faso’s place in the tournament after it was revealed they fielded an ineligible player. Herve Zengue, a Cameroonian-born player, played for Burkina Faso in both of their victories over Namibia in qualifying and, according to the Namibian FA, had not received FIFA clearance before appearing for his new country.

The CAF has dismissed Namibia’s appeal on the grounds that a protest against a player’s eligibility must be made before the beginning of a match, which CAF claims Namibia failed to do on both occasions that they played Burkina Faso. However, Namibian FA General Secretary Rukoro claims that the team did protest Zengue’s eligibility and that the official did not relay that information to CAF.

“We approached the match commissioner before the match, who directed us to the match referee. Before kick-off, the two captains were called, they signed the protest and the documents were taken by the referee...If the referee did not submit those documents as part of his document, it should not be our problem as we are not the ones appointing the referee.”

The Namibian FA will launch a further appeal with CAF and will reportedly take their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if necessary. If Burkina Faso is found guilty of fielding an ineligible player, their results should be recorded as 3-0 losses when that player participated. If that were to happen, Namibia would qualify for the tournament.