The Confederations of African Football (CAF) has rescinded Zanzibar’s membership just four months after the island was accepted as a member.
CAF President Ahmad Ahmad said Zanzibar, which is part of Tanzania, should never have been admitted as the body’s 55th member.
The island got its official admission into Africa’s football authority in March, but Ahmad said one country could not have two associations.
“They were admitted without properly looking into the statutes which are crystal clear,” said Ahmad.
“Caf cannot admit two different associations from one country.”
Ahmad made the comments in Morocco where he had attended an African football symposium that made a raft of changes on the continents football.
Some the changes made include increasing the number of participating teams in the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning the 2019 edition will have 24 teams, up from 16.
Also, the timing of the AFCON competition was changed from January-February to June-July.
These are some of the pledged Ahmad made during his campaign to replace former president Issa Hayatou.
Many African players and officials welcomed the change in AFCON dates, saying it would now eliminate clashes between European clubs and their countries, and will subsequently make African footballers more marketable in Europe.
