Bilal Felix, the head coach of South Sudan U17 football team. | Photo: Courtesy.

The South Sudan U-17 football team head coach has apologized to the country after the disqualification of the bright stars from the African Cup of Nations.

Last week, the national team was expelled from the continental tournament after five players were found to have exceeded the 17 years benchmark.

Speaking at a press conference in Juba on Thursday, Felix Bilal said the football-governing body was deeply affected following the results of the MRI test.

“First of all, I would like to apologize to the entire population of South Sudan for what had happened, because it is not only the population of South Sudan but all of us were affected,” he said.

“When we heard the results, for almost three to four days, we were not sleeping because it was like something planned but we don’t know who planned it.”

According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), five players of the South Sudan’s Under-17 team did not meet the MRI eligibility test.

Two of the five players caught on age limit violations passed the eligibility test in the 2022 Zonal qualifiers but were not qualified to participate in the competition this year.

In response, the national federation wrote to CAF against their decision attaching an MRI test which was previously conducted. But the bid was rejected.

According to coach Bilal, he had three days of sleepless nights over the matter.