UFOA A U17 Tournament: Guinea-Bissau Disqualified for Age Fraud

A major setback for Guinea-Bissau. Competing in the UFOA/A U17 Senegal-2026 AFCON qualifying tournament, the team was removed from the competition following magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests conducted to verify the players’ ages.

Group B in disarray

In a statement, the organizing committee announced the disqualification of the Guinea-Bissau team after analyzing the MRI results. The decision comes right at the start of the competition on September 7, 2026. It directly alters the composition of Group B.

Originally scheduled to include four teams, the group now consists of only three: Mali, Liberia, and Guinea. These three nations will continue in the tournament with the goal of securing a spot in the next phase of qualifying.

A Precedent Set in 2024

This is not the first time this has happened to Guinea-Bissau. During the 2024 edition of the UFOA A U-17 tournament, also held in Senegal, the team had already been disqualified for similar reasons related to age verification. Within two years, the country has once again been sanctioned in this regional qualifying competition for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

This recurrence risks tarnishing the image of Guinea-Bissau soccer and raising questions about selection procedures leading up to youth competitions.

Nafongo TRAORE |

News Editorfr, ar, en

Nafongon Moussa TRAORE, Burkinabè de 25 ans, est passionné de football, est rédacteur pour Foot Africa et commentateur pour BurkiFoot.

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CAF U17 Cup of Nations