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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed Eritrea’s withdrawal from the CHAN 2024 Qualifiers, resulting in the cancellation of the upcoming matches at Juba National Stadium.

CAF’s Competitions Division extended appreciation to all involved parties for their understanding of this change.

Originally, Eritrea was scheduled to face Ethiopia in the CHAN qualifiers on October 31, 2024, in Juba, with a return match set for November 3, 2024.

Following Eritrea’s withdrawal, Ethiopia will instead compete against either Sudan or Tanzania in the final qualification round.

The CHAN 2025 tournament, exclusively for players in domestic leagues, aims to highlight local talent and will be hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania from February 1–28, 2025.

The CECAFA zone, which includes the three host countries, will receive an additional slot due to their automatic qualification as hosts. As a result, the total number of teams qualifying for the final tournament will be increased to 19 teams.

Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania will participate in the Qualifiers and in addition to their automatic qualification as hosts, the team achieving the best result in the CECAFA qualifiers will also advance to the final tournament.

This withdrawal continues a pattern for Eritrea’s national team, which last participated in a major qualification game in January 2020, where they lost 1-0 to Sudan in a friendly match in Asmara.

Eritrea has consistently withdrawn from various tournaments, including the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and more recently, the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, due to concerns over player defections.

According to The Guardian, Eritrea’s Ministry of Sports and Culture has raised concerns that players may choose not to return after travelling abroad.

As of November 2023, Eritrea’s men’s team has not played an international match in four years, largely due to these ongoing concerns.

-MICHAEL