Governing Bodies
Road to 2024 Olympic Games football event begins on Thursday with U23 AFCON Qualifiers Draw
The draw for the qualifiers of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2023 will take place on Thursday 18 August 2022 at 13:00 Cairo time (11:00 GMT).
The tournament’s ultimate goal is to produce the African qualifiers for the football event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
According to CAF, the draw will be streamed live on its digital platforms.
The U23 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2023 is scheduled in June 2023 in Morocco.
Thirty-nine Member Associations are engaged in African qualifiers. Morocco are automatically qualified as hosts to the final tournament. The remaining 38 teams will play the qualifiers.
Qualifiers Schedule:
- First Round (Home and Away): 19 to 27 September 2022
- Second Round (First Leg/Second Leg): 21 – 23 October 2022/28-30 October 2022
- Third Round (First Leg/Second Leg): 20 to 28 March 2023
Procedures of the drawing of lots of the qualifiers of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations
Format:
– 1st round: the 20 least ranked teams will play the 1st round (knock out from home & away matches) qualifying 10 teams to the 2nd round.
– 2nd round: The 10 teams qualified from the 1st round + the 18 exempted from the 1st round will play the 2nd round (knock out from home & away *matches) qualifying 14 teams to the 3rd round.
– 3rd round: The 14 teams qualified from the 2nd round will play the 3rd round (knock out from home & away matches) qualifying 7 teams to the final tournament in addition to the host country Morocco.
First Round (19 – 27 September 2022)
The participating teams in the 1st round (20 teams):
1 team from UNAF: Libya
3 teams from WAFU A: Gambia, Guinea Bissau & Mauritania
3 teams from WAFU B: Burkina Faso, Niger & Togo
1 team from UNIFFAC: RD Congo
5 teams from CECAFA: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan & Tanzania
7 teams from COSAFA: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique & Namibia
Teams exempted according to the ranking (18 teams):
UNAF: Algeria, Egypt & Tunisia
WAFU A: Guinea, Mali, Senegal & S. Leone
WAFU B: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana & Nigeria
CECAFA: Sudan & Uganda
UNIFFAC: Cameroon, Congo & Gabon
COSAFA: South Africa & Zambia
The zones will be mixed geographically in the preliminaries as follows:
POT A: 3 teams of WAFU A + 3 teams from WAFU B
- Gambia
- Guinea Bissau
- Mauritania
- Burkina Faso
- Niger
- Togo
POT B: 5 teams of CECAFA + 1 team of UNAF:
- Djibouti
- Ethiopia
- Rwanda
- South Sudan
- Tanzania
- Libya
POT C: 7 teams of COSAFA + 1 team of UNIFFAC:
- Angola
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- Madagascar
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- RD Congo
Match 1 & 2: The 1st team drawn from pot A plays against the 2nd team drawn from pot A (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 3 & 4: The 3rd team drawn from pot A plays against the 4th team drawn from pot A (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 5 & 6: The 5th team drawn from pot A plays against the 6th team drawn from pot A (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 7 & 8: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot B
Match 9 & 10: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot B
Match 11 & 12: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot B
Match 13 & 14: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Match 15 & 16: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Match 17 & 18: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Match 19 & 20: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Second Round
Teams of level 1 and teams of level 2 will play the winners from the 1st round by drawing of lots
Teams of level 3 will play against each other by drawing of lots.
Level 1: Egypt, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Algeria
Level 2: Ghana, Senegal, Gabon, Mali, Cameroon
Level 3: Tunisia, Zambia, Congo, Sudan, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Benin
Match 21 & 22: The 1st ball drawn from level 1 will play against winner 1/2
Match 23 & 24: The 1st ball drawn from level 3 will play against the 2nd ball drawn from level 3 (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 25 & 26: The 2nd ball drawn from level 1 will play against winner 3/4
Match 27 & 28: The 3rd ball drawn from level 3 will play against the 4th ball drawn from level 3 (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home) _
Match 29 & 30: The 3rd ball drawn from level 1 will play against winner 5/6
Match 31 & 32: The 5th ball drawn from level 3 will play against the 6th ball drawn from level 3 (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home) _
Match 33 & 34: The 4th ball drawn from level 1 will play against winner 7/8
Match 35 & 36: The 7th ball drawn from level 3 will play against the 8th ball drawn from level 3 (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home) _
Match 37 & 38: The 5th ball drawn from level 1 will play against winner 9/10
Match 39 & 40: The 1st ball drawn from level 2 will play against winner 11/12
Match 41 & 42: The 2nd ball drawn from level 2 will play against winner 13/14
Match 43 & 44: The 3rd ball drawn from level 2 will play against winner 15/16
Match 45 & 46: The 4th ball drawn from level 2 will play against winner 17/18
Match 47 & 48: The 5th ball drawn from level 2 will play against winner 19/20
(Teams of level 1 and 2 play the 2nd leg at home)
Third Round
Match 49: win 21/22 vs winner 23/24
Match 50: win 23/24 vs winner 21/22
Match 51: win 25/26 vs winner 27/28
Match 52: win 27/28 vs winner 25/26
Match 53: win 29/30 vs winner 31/32
Match 54: win 31/32 vs winner 29/30
Match 55: win 33/34 vs winner 35/36
Match 56: win 35/36 vs winner 33/34
Match 57: win 37/38 vs winner 39/40
Match 58: win 39/40 vs winner 37/38
Match 59: win 41/42 vs winner 43/44
Match 60: win 43/44 vs winner 41/42
Match 61: win 45/46 vs winner 47/48
Match 62: win 47/48 vs winner 45/46
(Team mentioned first plays at home)
The Confédération Africaine de Football (“CAF”) will hold its Executive Committee (“EXCO”) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday, 21 October 2024.
The Executive Committee meeting, to be chaired by CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe, will start at 10h30 local time (07h30 GMT).
The meeting will be held ahead of the 46th Ordinary General Assembly which will also take place in the Ethiopian capital on Tuesday, 22 October 2024 at 10h00 local time (07h00 GMT).
Wahid Oshodi, the newly elected President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) has made an immediate call to the private sector to boost table tennis on the continent.
His approach focuses on not relying solely on public funds but on seeking corporate investment to elevate the sport.
He has launched an ambitious strategy to strengthen the development of table tennis in Africa.
His first step has been to solicit the backing of the private sector, which he sees as crucial to taking the sport to the next level.
In his inaugural address, Oshodi emphasised that relying exclusively on government funding and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) “will not be enough to boost the sport across the continent.”
“It’s time to involve private and corporate organisations to help table tennis flourish in Africa.
“We cannot continue depending solely on government funding. We aim to raise the standards and produce more African superstars who can shine globally,” stated the new ATTF president, seeking a significant financial injection to tackle the challenges and ambitions set out for his tenure.
His election, held on 15 October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was unanimous. Indeed, a clear acknowledgement of his international reputation and dedication to table tennis.
Oshodi, who was previously elected Vice President of the ATTF in 2019 and Executive Vice President of the ITTF in 2021, has more than proven his ability to lead the sport’s development both in his home country and across the continent.
The Lagos-born leader is not only focused on funding but also on fostering unity among ATTF member associations. He believes that a united continent will be stronger and better positioned to succeed on the global stage. “Unity is key. Together, we can achieve more for table tennis in Africa,” he added.
Governing Bodies
Sanusi set for record-extending tenure as Nigeria’s football politicians assemble in Asaba
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Speculations gathered ahead of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Football Federation holding in Asaba on Friday have it that tenure elongation for the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, is a major item on the agenda.
Neither formal confirmation nor denial has been issued since one of the leading newspapers in Nigeria, ThisDay dropped the hint.
The agenda of the meeting is also not made public. Dr, Sanusi is the longest-serving General Secretary in history having been in office from 30 March 2015 making 3,476 days or nine years six months and four days.
It easily drowned that of his closest rival in tenure – Sani Toro whose tenure from 21 December 1993 to 3 May 1999 is merely 2020 days or five years, six months and 12 days.
Thus, no one had enjoyed a longer period in office than the incumbent, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi. It is speculated that the tenure will be extended as NFF has reported that all delegates have arrived in the Delta State capital by Thursday evening.
The NFF Annual General Assembly, the first of which took place 90 years ago in Lagos on 19 February 1934, is the biggest assemblage of football administrators and stakeholders in the country.
In one such meeting on 24 July 2008 in Makurdi, the football body changed its name from NFA to NFF.
This year, according to a press release by the NFF, the plenary will have in attendance, the chairmen and secretaries of football associations in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, chairmen and secretaries of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Nigeria National League, Nigeria Women Football League and the Nationwide League One, as well as chairmen and secretaries of the referees’ association, players’ union and coaches’ association. This group of 88 makes up the Congress.
They are joined by the members of the NFF Executive Committee and the management team as well as former NFF Presidents and General Secretaries.
The Minister of Sports Development, John Owan Enoh, is announced as the special guest. Nigeria’s Member of the FIFA Council, Amaju Melvin Pinnick is also expected as well as a representative of the West African Football Union (WAFU B).
The Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Francis Oborevwori will declare the General Assembly open.
Venue is the Unity Hall of the Delta State Government House.
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