Disqualified Zimbabwe Under-17 Soccer Squad Returning Home After 'Fielding' Old PlayerThe Under-17 Zimbabwe national soccer team is expected to return home Monday following their disqualification from the Confederation of Southern African Football Association Youth Championship. In a statement, Zimbabwe Football Association communications manager, Xolisani Gwesela, said the team is coming back home as the Confederation of African Football has not yet responded to their inquiries over their disqualification from the event. “The Zimbabwe Football Association would like to inform the football fraternity and the nation that ZIFA has not received any response from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), following our appeal against the disqualification of our Under 17 team from this year's edition of the COSAFA Youth Championship. “COSAFA has insisted that in the absence of communication from CAF, the expulsion stands and the team should travel back to Zimbabwe. The on going tournament also serves as the qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals. Consequently, the team will return home tomorrow (Monday). This does not mean that ZIFA has abandoned its appeal against disqualification, but we have taken this decision to avoid further straining the committed and innocent Young Warriors whose premature exit was disappointing and questionable.” CAF officials were not responding to calls on their mobile phones. Gwesela did not reveal the name of the player that resulted in the disqualification of the squad. In a statement, COSAFA said the disqualification of Botswana, Comoros Islands, Eswatini and Zimbabwe from the 2020 COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship on the basis of fielding over-age players has forced a reset of the competition. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Youth Competitions Committee made the decision to disqualify the teams from the zonal qualifier tournament for the 2021 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations on Friday. “The quartet all had at least one player fail their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that were conducted in the host country prior to the start of the competition. The tournament regulations stipulate that “an age eligibility test will be obligatory and will be performed on all participating players upon arrival in the host city. The test will be performed by the CAF Medical Services in accordance with the protocol of the F-Marc in a health facility duly accredited in the hosting country using an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus. The cost of the MRI test will be covered by CAF. “In the event that a participating team has one or more players who do not pass the MRI test for eligibility, then the applicable team will be disqualified and will have to return home as soon as is practically possible.” MRI scans are used across the world to determine whether players are eligible for Under-17 competitions. According to COSAFA, doctors look for bone fusions in the human wrist, which are highly unlikely to occur before the age of 17, with a more than 99% accuracy rate. “If the fused bone can be seen on the MRI scans, then it is proof that the player is older than 17. It is certainly not an issue that affects Southern Africa alone. Guinea were disqualified from appearing at the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup after being found guilty of fielding two ineligible players in the continental finals, where they finished third.” Zimbabwe and the other nations’ punishment will see them miss the next two Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations, and by consequence the next FIFA Under-17 World Cup. The 2020 COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship restarted as a four-team tournament on Sunday and is expected to be played on a round-robin basis, with the top two teams advancing to a final on November 29. The matches which have been played to date will be regarded as warm-up games and will have no bearing on the new tournament format. There are also fixtures on Tuesday and Thursday, before the final positions are decided next Sunday, including a third-fourth play-off. The two sides that reach the final based on their position in the group will have already achieved one ambition by qualifying for the Cup of Nations that is scheduled for Morocco in the middle of next year.