AFCON 2023: Mauritius win appeal against Sao Tomé and Príncipe, now to play Nigeria

The Director of Competitions of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Mr Samson Adamu has confirmed to thenff.com that Mauritius won a case it filed against Sao Tomé and Príncipe concerning their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary qualifying fixture, and will therefore join the combatants in Group A of the qualification series starting next month.

Victory for Mauritius at the CAF Disciplinary Committee means they now join Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau in Group A of the six-match phase that ends in March next year. Nigeria will play Sierra Leone in Abuja on Thursday 9th June and then play Mauritius on Monday 13th June.

Mauritius had filed a protest against São Tomé and Príncipe, who won their preliminary qualifying fixture, insisting that one São Tomé player had tested positive for covid-19. “The matter became somewhat more interesting because the player at the centre of the controversy is the one that scored the only goal of the match,” said our source at the time.