JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Sport’s highest court has upheld its decision to allow
Burkina Faso to compete in the African Cup of Nations and rejected an appeal by
Namibia over an ineligible player, the African football confederation said
Tuesday.

Quoting a ruling by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, the
Confederation of African Football said that Namibia’s appeal over the
eligibility of Cameroon-born defender Herve Zengue was dismissed on Tuesday.

Emmanuel Zombre, an official with Burkina Faso’s football federation, also
told The Associated Press that the country had retained its place at the African
Cup, which kicks off in less than two weeks.

Confirmation from CAS was expected later Tuesday, with the sports court
traditionally releasing its findings to the parties involved before making the
decision public.

The Namibia Football Association had twice protested to CAF over Zengue’s
presence in Burkina Faso’s team after losing out to the Burkinabes in qualifying
for the Jan. 21-Feb. 12 Cup of Nations.

After Africa’s ruling body rejected both of those appeals, Namibia turned to
CAS.

Namibia argued that Zengue, who is married to a woman from Burkina Faso,
still did not meet FIFA criteria to play for his adopted country.

CAF added that Tuesday’s decision also ordered the Namibia Football
Association to pay 5,000 Swiss francs ($5,275) toward its legal fees for the CAS
hearing.

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Associated Press writer Brahima Ouedraogo contributed to this report from
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.