CECAFA Tournament: Zanzibar shown the door for age-fixing

The U-17 East African soccer tournament sponsored FIFA kicked off in Burundi and the word drama could just about sum up the experiences so far. The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) has expelled Zanzibar for fielding nine players born before 2002 for their intended opening match against Sudan. Zanzibar was fined (USD) $15 000 which is almost equal to their budget for air tickets, accommodation, and meals.

Ethiopia’s team was also fined (USD) $5 000 for fielding three over-age players and had their 3-1 victory over Somalia forfeited to a 3 - 0 defeat. The Cecafa committee also recommended that only the three Ethiopian players in question be expelled from the tournament. These changes mean that only 7 teams are now participating in the ongoing tournament with Uganda, Tanzania and Sudan occupying group B whilst Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi and Somalia make up the group A crew. Kenya had a flying start beating hosts, Burundi by 4 - 0 while Uganda and Tanzania played to a 1-1 draw. Kenya will qualify for the semi-finals should they beat Ethiopia in their next match.

“Zanzibar presented nine players over the age limit for their intended opening Group B match against Sudan on Sunday. The match was not played and the organizing committee found that only 12 players in total were born before 2002 as required by the rules.”

— Rogers Mulindwa, Cecafa Media Officer