Namibia threatens to take dispute to Court of Arbitration for Sport

Namibian Football Association has denounced Caf’s decision to throw away their appeal against Burkina Faso for fielding an “eligible player”.

The Namibia Football Federation has threatened to take their protest over Burkina Faso’s involvement to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

The decision came after the African football governing body, Caf, dismissed Namibia’s appeal over the “eligibility” of Burkina Faso’s Herve Zengue, on technicality, to play in the home-and-away matches between the two nations this year to qualify for AFCON - the African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2012 - to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Cameroon-born Zengue appeared in two matches for Burkina Faso during the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers, both of which resulted in victories over Namibia.

But the Namibians maintain that Caf is ignoring one of its own rulings, which states that any team fielding a ‘non-qualified player’ should still lose a match regardless of any protest with reference to their own article mentioned below.

Article 36.12. A team which allows a non-qualified or a suspended player to take part in group matches shall lose the match by penalty (3 – 0), even in the absence of protests/reservations.