Rwanda disqualified from African Cup for player with two identities

Rwanda has been disqualified from the African Cup because one of its players was discovered using a different name and a Congolese passport when playing for his club team, the Confederation of African Football announced.

Rwanda has been disqualified from the African Cup because one of its players was discovered using a different name and a Congolese passport when playing for his club team, the Confederation of African Football announced.

Striker Dady Birori, who CAF said is registered as Tady Etekiama when playing for AS Vita, was banned on Sunday. A hearing was scheduled for Sept. 17 to determine the length of his ban, and any additional punishments.

According to the report, Birori was also using a different date of birth in his AS Vita documents.

Rwanda defeated the Republic of Congo in the second round of African Cup qualifying earlier this month, but with Rwanda disqualified, the Republic of Congo will now take its place in the final round of qualifiers. 

Birori has been playing for Rwanda since 2009, including in qualifying matches for the last two World Cups.

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From The Associated Press:

Rwanda is the third team to be disqualified in the 2015 African Cup qualifying competition. Equatorial Guinea was thrown out for fielding an ineligible player and Gambia was removed after being banned from all competitions for fielding overage players in a youth tournament qualifier. Two other countries, Eritrea and Seychelles, withdrew.

The Egyptian club Zamalek appealed to CAF over Birori's eligibility after losing out to Kinshasa-based AS Vita for a place in the semifinals of the African Champions League tournament.

BBC Sport reports that Rwanda will appeal the disqualification.

- Sarah Barshop