Ethiopia have failed to raise players for the CHAN 2018 playoff double header against Rwanda throwing their participation into limbo.

Coach Ashenafi Bekele summoned a 25-man squad to camp Sunday but the players were Monday recalled to their respective clubs to continue with preseason ahead of Ethiopian Premier League new season kickoff this weekend.

Report indicates that effort to pause the start of the season has been met with resistance from a section of the stakeholders.

Ethiopian Football Federation has since requested the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the two-legged tie.

The first leg was slated for 5th November in Addis Ababa with the return match six days later in Kigali.

The aggregate winner bags the 16th and the last ticket to the continental showpiece set aside for home-based professionals to be hosted by Morocco next year.

The slot was initially reserved for Kenya as hosts but it was whisked away with the hosting rights which went to Morocco as the East Africans failed readiness test.

Egypt declined the offer to take Kenya’s slot leaving CAF with no choice but to hand it back to the East Africa region.