The Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) has sent a formal complaint to Caf alleging that Uganda committed fraud in the recent under-20 Afcon first-round qualifiers.
Rwanda has pointed out the irregularities in the documents of Uganda goalkeeper James Ahebwa whose birth date on his passport with SC Vipers, which featured in the Caf Champions League first round in February, is March 27, 1997, while another passport used in the under-20 Afcon qualifiers indicates May 19, 1998.
A statement published on the Ferwafa website yesterday emphasised Rwanda’s position in pursuing justice in reference to Caf under-20 regulations chapter 20 which stipulates fraud, forgery and administrative error.
It reads: “Each player must possess a passport containing his his photo and giving the full particulars on the player’s age (day, month and year of birth) a player who does not have a passport issued by the competent authorities, shall not be authorised to participate in the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
In the case of junior players participating in Caf inter-club competitions, a player will not be qualified to participate in the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations if the date of birth indicated in his licence is different from the one indicated on his passport.
He will not be qualified to participate in the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations if the full date of birth (day, month and year) is not indicated on his licence.
Match officials who handled both qualifiers are also at fault as they did not ensure the application of one of section in chapter 21 (list of players) article 46 which states that;
“The commissioner and the referee must forbid any player on the list that does not conform to the standards of qualification of the competition from participation in the match. Caf reserves the right to sanction any failures.”
The Caf Appeals Committee tribunal will handle the matter and give their final verdict over the matter.
The two sides settled for a 1-1 draw in Kigali before the Hippos defeated Rwanda 2-1 in Kigali on Saturday to edge them 3-2 on aggregate, booking a date with Egypt in the second round of the continental qualifiers for a place in the final tournament in Zambia next year.
A week ago, Kenya were disqualified from the same competition by Caf following a protest by Sudan who claimed that their neighbours had fielded average players in their first-round tie. — supersport.com