Gabon and Djibouti have been suspended from the 2020 CHAN for withdrawing from the 2018 qualifiers.

Gabon communicated their withdrawal to CAF, the Africa’s football body, days to the start of the 2018 qualifiers while Djibouti opted out after a heavy loss to Ethiopia in the first round first leg of the qualifiers.

Article 59 of the CAF statutes states: “Any association declaring forfeit after the start of the matches is liable to a fine of $10,000. It will also not be allowed to participate in the next edition of CHAN.”

Article 62 states: “Any team that withdraws or refuses to play the return match after having played the first leg on its own territory must refund the association of the visiting team a minimum sum of $10,000 in repair for the damages suffered by the host country.”

Djibouti will therefore additionally pay Ethiopia federation $10,000.

The 2018 CHAN will be hosted in Morocco. Kenya were the initial hosts but were stripped off the rights for unpreparedness.