When 6 Countries Were Banned From African Cup of Nations
- AFCON has a history of strict disciplinary action, with six nations previously suspended from taking part in the tournament
- Bans have stemmed from issues such as government interference, hosting withdrawals, and major political crises
- Some suspensions have lasted years, causing affected teams to miss multiple AFCON editions and major qualification cycles
Six countries have previously been banned from competing at the Africa Cup of Nations.
On December 21, the 2025 tournament will kick off in Morocco, where the hosts face Comoros at Rabat's Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
Source: Getty Images
Some of world football’s biggest stars, including Achraf Hakimi, Mohamed Salah, Nicolas Jackson, Bryan Mbeumo and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, are set to feature.
A total of 24 nations will compete across six groups of four, with the final set for Sunday, January 18, per The BBC.
With 17 squads officially announced so far, 46 players have already been confirmed for the tournament.
The hosts headline Group A alongside Mali, 2012 champions Zambia and Comoros.
Group F boasts a heavyweight showdown, with holders Ivory Coast drawn against five-time champions Cameroon, while Senegal vs DR Congo in Group D is another standout fixture.
Elsewhere, Egypt meet 1996 winners South Africa in Group B, and Group C carries a strong East African flavour with Uganda and Tanzania joining Nigeria and Tunisia.
6 countries banned from AFCON
Thankfully, no teams were banned from this year’s edition, but that hasn’t always been the case, as six different countries have been handed AFCON bans in the past.
Morocco themselves were barred from the 2017 and 2019 tournaments after withdrawing as hosts in 2015 due to the Ebola epidemic.
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Equatorial Guinea stepped in at short notice, and CAF responded by fining Morocco $1 million (£656,000) and banning them from the next two competitions.
One of the most notable bans occurred during the apartheid era, when South Africa were expelled from all continental football.
They were officially banned by FIFA for 16 years and by CAF from 1958 to 1992, effectively missing 40 years of competition, including 18 AFCON tournaments.
More recently, Zimbabwe and Kenya were excluded from the 2023 AFCON qualifiers after their federations were suspended due to government interference.
Sierra Leone suffered the same fate in the 2019 qualifiers for similar reasons, while Chad were banned from the 2017 qualification campaign after withdrawing mid-competition.
Source: YEN.com.gh
