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Zambia: The Zambia U17 Men’s National Team has passed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test ahead of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Algeria 2023.
Team Doctor Mutimba Mpabalwani told Media in Constantine that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Medical Team had cleared all the players and that all of them were eligible for selection at the tournament.
The MRI test is a mandatory checkup subject to all players to ascertain the right age category, and CAF states in a circular that if after performing the eligibility test for a participating team and four (4) or more of its players are found ineligible, the participating team will be disqualified.
“We did our MRI in Algiers, and all the results for all the 24 players that were selected by the coaches are eligible to play for this tournament, and that has been certified by CAF, which gave us the results this (Wednesday) morning,” Mpabalwani said.
Furthermore, he added that “The MRI scans that we did back home were done to offer the coaches an opportunity to have a pool of players to pick from and ensure that the players picked are eligible and in the correct age bracket, which allows for fair play so once we do our homework back home, it’s easier for us to have good results like we have today.”
And coach Ian Bakala says the technical bench was happy with the outcome of the results and was looking forward to the team’s first training session in Constantine.
“It’s good news for us, we expected these results, and it gives us more confidence that everyone is eligible to play. It’s going to work for us in the first game against Nigeria (on Sunday),” Bakala said.
“This is a good motivation for the team, we just have to concentrate and be ready for our first Group B game against Nigeria, said Bakala.